Ukraine rejects Russia's demand to surrender the port city of Mariupol

Ukraine rejects Russia's demand to surrender the port city of Mariupol

　　Transcript¹

　　NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with Ukrainian member of parliament Lesia Vasylenko about the war, and the critical situation in the besieged² city of Mariupol.

　　LEILA FADEL, HOST:

　　Ukrainian officials are rejecting a Russian demand that they surrender the port city of Mariupol. The city has suffered some of the worst bombardment in nearly four weeks of war, including a recent strike on an art school where hundreds of people were taking refuge. Many of Mariupol's residents are trapped in an unfolding humanitarian⁴ disaster. I spoke⁵ to Lesia Vasylenko, a member of the Ukrainian Parliament, who said Mariupol is turning into a horror akin³ to Bosnia's Srebrenica or the Syrian city of Aleppo.

　　LESIA VASYLENKO: It's an agglomeration⁶ of war crimes and crimes against humanity. But everything I just said is just words and terms, and they are nothing compared to the tragedy that the people of Mariupol have to live through and are stuck in because of the Russian troops.

　　FADEL: There are reports of Russian troops forcibly removing residents of Mariupol to Russia. What do you know about this?

　　VASYLENKO: I hear the same reports. They are coming from the Ukrainian military. And unfortunately, there's nothing we can do because people who have been stuck for almost three weeks without food, without water, they are desperate, and they will take any way out. But the minute that they are made to cross the Russian border, we don't know where these people go. Some of them disappear in unknown directions. Some have reported that they are being taken as far out as Siberia. Essentially⁷, what we are witnessing is the modern-day gulags.

　　FADEL: What is being done on the government level, the parliamentarian level? What are you pushing for in order to bring this to an end in Mariupol?

　　VASYLENKO: What Parliament can do at the moment is support the Ukrainian military. This is what the Ukrainian Parliament is doing. But at the same time, our Parliament is appealing time and time again to the international community, to foreign governments, foreign parliaments and also to the system of the United Nations to provide humanitarian aid for Ukraine and not just in the sense of the basic needs but also in the sense of providing a no-fly zone over Mariupol and other besieged cities of Ukraine. We are appealing to the International Committee of the Red Cross to be - to come back to Ukraine, to be present on the ground and to be providing the rights of safe passage to the millions of civilians⁹ who are stranded¹⁰, not just in Mariupol but in other cities as well.

　　FADEL: But if they're on the ground, will they have access to places like Mariupol?

　　VASYLENKO: They can have access. And it's up to the international community to make that political decision and to make the only morally right and legitimate¹¹ decision to come on the ground in Ukraine and help prevent even further crimes against humanity and war crimes that are being committed by the Russian Federation¹² in the territory of Ukraine against the Ukrainian people.

　　FADEL: Recently, President Zelenskyy called for urgent talks to end this war. What is the status of diplomatic talks with Russia?

　　VASYLENKO: We are in talks. Ukraine is happy to have these talks. But I don't think that Russia is ready because Russia in these talks repeats time and time again that they want to see a demilitarized, neutral Ukraine. Russia wants to see Ukraine with huge chunks¹³ of Ukrainian territories cut off and recognized as territories of Russia or some kind of independent entities¹⁴. And that just doesn't make sense to us.

　　FADEL: But Russia isn't backing down in its invasion. Ukraine isn't backing down in its fight to stop. Is the cost of fighting Russia at this point becoming too high?

　　VASYLENKO: What is the price of freedom? And what is the price of all the lives that have been lost already? This is the question that I ask every single time. And it's impossible to explain to the millions of Ukrainians who remain and who continue to stand up in unity⁸ against the biggest aggression¹⁵ of the 21st century. There's no words that can explain to them. That's it. We stop now. We give up. We give up our freedom. Because what Russia is trying to get Ukraine to do is to get us to give up our freedom, our right to free choice and our right to free existence as an independent country. There's nothing that Ukrainians value more than freedom. Life without freedom is no life for us.

　　FADEL: That was Lesia Vasylenko, a Ukrainian Parliament member. She spoke to us from Poland.

1 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。

2 besieged   

包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Paris was besieged for four months and forced to surrender. 巴黎被围困了四个月后被迫投降。
• The community besieged the newspaper with letters about its recent editorial. 公众纷纷来信对报社新近发表的社论提出诘问，弄得报社应接不暇。

3 akin   

adj.同族的，类似的

参考例句：

• She painted flowers and birds pictures akin to those of earlier feminine painters.她画一些同早期女画家类似的花鸟画。
• Listening to his life story is akin to reading a good adventure novel.听他的人生故事犹如阅读一本精彩的冒险小说。

4 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 agglomeration   

n.结聚，一堆

参考例句：

• The Guangxi's sugar industry has the characters of industrial agglomeration.广西糖业在发展过程中体现出了产业集聚特征。
• This agglomeration of funds resolves a number of problems.这种集资的办法解决了以下几个问题。

7 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

8 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

9 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。

10 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

11 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

12 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

13 chunks   

厚厚的一块( chunk的名词复数 )； （某物）相当大的数量或部分

参考例句：

• a tin of pineapple chunks 一罐菠萝块
• Those chunks of meat are rather large—could you chop them up a bIt'smaller? 这些肉块相当大，还能再切小一点吗？

14 entities   

实体对像； 实体，独立存在体，实际存在物( entity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our newspaper and our printing business form separate corporate entities. 我们的报纸和印刷业形成相对独立的企业实体。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities. 北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

15 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。