美国国家公共电台 NPR--In a major blow to Putin, Russia says it has fully withdrawn from Kherson

In a major blow to Putin, Russia says it has fully¹ withdrawn² from Kherson

Transcript³

The Russian Defense⁴ Ministry⁵ says it has completed its withdrawal⁶ from the strategically important city of Kherson in southern Ukraine.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Russia now says all of its troops have withdrawn from the southern city of Kherson in Ukraine. This marks a major setback⁷ for Russia's war effort. For the latest, we are joined now by NPR's Greg Myre, who is in Kyiv. Good morning, Greg.

GREG MYRE, BYLINE⁸: Hi, Rachel.

MARTIN: This is a massive win for Ukrainian forces. What can you tell us?

MYRE: Right. Russia's defense ministry put out a statement this morning saying all their troops had pulled out of Kherson. It's a large city on the west bank of the Dnieper River, and the Russian troops have retreated to the east bank. And this comes less than 48 hours after Russia announced that it would do this. Now, video on social media shows several spans of the main bridge crossing the river are completely destroyed. Ukraine had damaged the bridge, but it appears the Russians took down entire spans as they were leaving. And you may recall Russia annexed⁹ Kherson and other regions back in September, saying this was Russian territory forever. So the Kremlin today is still claiming this is Russian territory, though apparently¹⁰ there are no Russians there.

MARTIN: So, Greg, I mean, Russia was occupying this, but was there actual fighting going on between Ukrainian forces and Russian forces?

MYRE: No, no, there really hadn't been in the city. The Ukrainians had started with an offensive that moved toward Kherson back in the early - the fall. They got closer and closer, but it was clear that this offensive was going to succeed. Now, what happened was the Ukrainians were able to fire long-range U.S. weapons, these HIMARS, and hit Russian positions, damage the bridges that the Russians were using to resupply. And this has made - had made the Russians much more vulnerable, and they decided¹¹ to pull out, rather than stay and fight and risk being trapped.

MARTIN: So what's the situation on the ground there? Russians are gone. Have Ukrainian troops moved in?

MYRE: The Ukrainians were being very cautious for the past day or so. But now Ukraine's military intelligence says the country's troops have entered the city. And we're also seeing videos on social media. They show civilians¹², many of them wrapped in Ukrainian flags, celebrating in the main city square in front of the main government building. So Kherson and its communications with the rest of the country were pretty much cut off until today. But over the past 24 hours, social media has been exploding as we've seen Ukrainian soldiers approach the city, enter these outlying villages where many elderly residents who'd been under Russian occupation for months are greeting them with hugs and kisses and tears. In one video, we even saw a young woman playing a violin as soldiers drove up into the town. So there's been this great anticipation¹³ over the last 24 hours or so as Ukrainian troops approached and have now entered the city of Kherson.

MARTIN: So can you explain in the broader context of the war just how significant Kherson is?

MYRE: Well, this was one of Russia's few real successes. Russia took the city in the very first days of the war in February without a fight. The city was not damaged, so Russia began running the city using Russian currency, a Russian phone system and TV channels. And this is what Russia had hoped to do throughout the country. They also wanted to push further along Ukraine's southern coast, take over all those cities and cut Ukraine off from the Black Sea, which is very critical. But now Russia has left without a fight. It's really Russia's third major retreat from the outskirts¹⁴ of Kyiv, the capital, the second-largest city, Kharkiv, and now Kherson.

MARTIN: NPR's Greg Myre reporting from Kyiv on the news that Russian forces have left the city of Kherson. Thank you.

MYRE: My pleasure.

1 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

2 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

5 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

6 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

7 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

8 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

9 annexed   

[法] 附加的，附属的

参考例句：

• Germany annexed Austria in 1938. 1938年德国吞并了奥地利。
• The outlying villages were formally annexed by the town last year. 那些偏远的村庄于去年正式被并入该镇。

10 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

13 anticipation   

n.预期，预料，期望

参考例句：

• We waited at the station in anticipation of her arrival.我们在车站等着，期待她的到来。
• The animals grew restless as if in anticipation of an earthquake.各种动物都变得焦躁不安，像是感到了地震即将发生。

14 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。