Life in the Ukrainian city of Kyiv — one month into the war

Life in the Ukrainian city of Kyiv — one month into the war

　　Transcript¹

　　As Russia's war on Ukraine grinds on, so too does life for Ukrainians who still live in Kyiv. We examine how people in the capital city are adapting to life under war a month into Russia's invasion.

　　LEILA FADEL, HOST:

　　There's a certain dread² that runs through this city every night. When the sun disappears, people here draw their curtains, dim the lights. They sometimes eat dinner in the dark. It's almost as if this entire place is trying to hide from the next Russian airstrike. No one knows where it will land. This is life one month into Russia's invasion of this country. But by day as we drive through the center of Kyiv, it's clear that as the war grinds on, people are adapting in their ways.

　　Oh, look at this. An entire residential³ block, the top of the building has been hit so that all the windows have been shattered out. It's so weird⁴ because it's like kind of people trying to be normal - I saw a guy walking his dog, somebody riding their bike, people picking up their groceries - and then a building that's clearly been hit by a missile with windows for, gosh, a block and a half shattered out.

　　On one side of the street, a group of men shovel⁵ the debris⁶ into piles, broken brick, glass, ribbons of film dangling⁷ from what used to be a second-story camera store.

　　UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Non-English language spoken).

　　FADEL: Looking on across the street are two women, Olena Murashka (ph) and Victoria Litush (ph), surveying the hollowed out stores in front of them, shopping bags in their hands.

　　We're just wondering what you're doing out today. Are you shopping?

　　UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Through interpreter) I came here to check what's happened because, actually, we used to work here. I was selling cigarettes there, and I just went here to check again that my workplace is gone.

　　FADEL: Can you just describe what it's like to see where you used to work look like this, the shattered glass, building destroyed?

　　UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Through interpreter) I feel anger, and I feel terrible grief because I'm a citizen of Kyiv of the 15th generation. So I'm the 15th generation to live here. And I feel terrible grief because I'm not the person - I'm not kind of the person who even threw rubbish on the streets. And then this huge disaster is a grief for me.

　　FADEL: As we're talking, there's a distant explosion.

　　(SOUNDBITE OF EXPLOSION)

　　FADEL: Maybe artillery⁸. The women shrug⁹.

　　UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: (Through interpreter) Of course, we used to it because we're living here. We hear it every day.

　　FADEL: Underground below these women and this destruction is a subway station.

　　(SOUNDBITE OF SUBWAY ANNOUNCEMENT)

　　FADEL: So usually, this is a busy metro¹⁰ station, and now it's, like, sleeping bags and mattresses¹¹ and people who live here overnight so that they don't get hit in the strikes.

　　A train arrives every 40 minutes. On the platform, a woman knits under a blanket, a man drinks tea next to a stack of board games. At the end of the platform, we find Harraba Olha Vaselebuh (ph) and her friend Aleena Bumeister (ph) sitting on a leopard¹² print blanket playing with her gray cat, Sonee (ph).

　　ALEENA BUMEISTER: (Through interpreter) Our men, our military, they're fighting together.

　　FADEL: Is this the first time you're apart?

　　BUMEISTER: (Through interpreter) Yes. We are always together and even in a restroom (laughter). And this the very first time we are apart.

　　FADEL: Do you get to talk to him a lot?

　　BUMEISTER: (Through interpreter) From time to time have this rare possibility of communication with him, sometimes only a message. Plus means that everything is fine.

　　FADEL: So how long have you been down here?

　　HARRABA OLHA VASELEBUH: (Through interpreter) We've been here since the first day of the war.

　　FADEL: Some people have given up on staying in shelters, and they just go home. And you've decided¹³ to stay. Can you talk about why you stay here, what you're scared of?

　　VASELEBUH: (Through interpreter) We are afraid because you never know what building will be hit next. And our apartment, it's not so solid and safe. And we don't have shelters nearby.

　　FADEL: So they stay here. They spend a lot of time waiting, passing time.

　　VASELEBUH: (Through interpreter) Usually, we read books, playing with cats, sometimes we even listen to music and watch cinema on that very screen.

　　FADEL: Oh, there's a screen. Oh, I didn't see it. Is it hard? There's no windows down here, no light.

　　BUMEISTER: (Through interpreter) We're taking vitamin D.

　　(LAUGHTER)

　　FADEL: Aleena can take a supplement to make up for the lack of sunlight. She can read a book to stave off boredom¹⁴. But it's the future she can't control. She and her husband were trying to have a baby. Now she says she's waiting for peace to start her family, to resume her life.

　　(SOUNDBITE OF ELECTRIC HAIR CLIPPERS)

　　FADEL: A few miles away, others are choosing to start finding normal now. We stumble upon a hair salon¹⁵, and it's open. Taras Safchin (ph) is doing a woman's hair.

　　TARAS SAFCHIN: (Through interpreter) Yes, we have a lot of people coming in here. And we don't have enough hands, actually, to do our job because a lot of our employees, they just moved to western Ukraine or Europe. And so if there are some hairdressers in Kyiv, please come and help us.

　　FADEL: Exsinya Kojushko (ph) is getting the trim.

　　EXSINYA KOJUSHKO: Yeah, I feel guilty for having my hair done right now, and I actually done my nails just a few days ago. And I hated myself for that. But I'll feel better, and I'll be able to work better, to do my - like, be better at everything I do. So I'm trying to give this justification¹⁶ of me being here, chilling, having a coffee. I know it's surreal to me because I'm sitting here like nothing happens. But somewhere on the outskirts¹⁷ of Kyiv right now, like, people cleaning their houses from broken glass, broken walls, et cetera, et cetera, so...

　　FADEL: I think it's so understandable, though, to want to feel normal. Is this maybe a little bit of an escape for you for a moment?

　　KOJUSHKO: Yeah, like the little island of normality while everything is burning down in flames.

　　FADEL: A month into the Russian invasion, Kyiv is a changed place, a place where so many people told us they don't know if they'll make it to the next morning. So they say, why not put on that great outfit¹⁸? Why not get that haircut or go for that cup of coffee, a brief escape from the war around them?

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 dread   

vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧

参考例句：

• We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。
• Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她极度恐惧的心理消除了。

3 residential   

adj.提供住宿的；居住的；住宅的

参考例句：

• The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
• The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。

4 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

5 shovel   

n.铁锨，铲子，一铲之量；v.铲，铲出

参考例句：

• He was working with a pick and shovel.他在用镐和铲干活。
• He seized a shovel and set to.他拿起一把铲就干上了。

6 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

7 dangling   

悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口

参考例句：

• The tooth hung dangling by the bedpost, now. 结果，那颗牙就晃来晃去吊在床柱上了。
• The children sat on the high wall,their legs dangling. 孩子们坐在一堵高墙上，摇晃着他们的双腿。

8 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

9 shrug   

v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等)

参考例句：

• With a shrug,he went out of the room.他耸一下肩，走出了房间。
• I admire the way she is able to shrug off unfair criticism.我很佩服她能对错误的批评意见不予理会。

10 metro   

n.地铁；adj.大都市的；(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国，主要经营零售)

参考例句：

• Can you reach the park by metro?你可以乘地铁到达那个公园吗？
• The metro flood gate system is a disaster prevention equipment.地铁防淹门系统是一种防灾设备。

11 mattresses   

褥垫，床垫( mattress的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The straw mattresses are airing there. 草垫子正在那里晾着。
• The researchers tested more than 20 mattresses of various materials. 研究人员试验了二十多个不同材料的床垫。

12 leopard   

n.豹

参考例句：

• I saw a man in a leopard skin yesterday.我昨天看见一个穿着豹皮的男人。
• The leopard's skin is marked with black spots.豹皮上有黑色斑点。

13 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。

14 boredom   

n.厌烦，厌倦，乏味，无聊

参考例句：

• Unemployment can drive you mad with boredom.失业会让你无聊得发疯。
• A walkman can relieve the boredom of running.跑步时带着随身听就不那么乏味了。

15 salon   

n.[法]沙龙；客厅；营业性的高级服务室

参考例句：

• Do you go to the hairdresser or beauty salon more than twice a week?你每周去美容院或美容沙龙多过两次吗？
• You can hear a lot of dirt at a salon.你在沙龙上会听到很多流言蜚语。

16 justification   

n.正当的理由；辩解的理由

参考例句：

• There's no justification for dividing the company into smaller units. 没有理由把公司划分成小单位。
• In the young there is a justification for this feeling. 在年轻人中有这种感觉是有理由的。

17 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。

18 outfit   

n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装

参考例句：

• Jenney bought a new outfit for her daughter's wedding.珍妮为参加女儿的婚礼买了一套新装。
• His father bought a ski outfit for him on his birthday.他父亲在他生日那天给他买了一套滑雪用具。