美国国家公共电台 NPR--A look inside the Ukrainian 'billionaire's battalion' fighting Russian forces

A look inside the Ukrainian 'billionaire's battalion¹' fighting Russian forces

Transcript²

KHARKIV, Ukraine — One of Ukraine's wealthiest men is seated at a white piano in the lobby of a closed-down hotel in Ukraine's second-largest city. The multistory atrium is dark except for a few running lights along the edge of the carpet. Cardboard covers all the windows.

Wearing military fatigues³, Vsevolod Kozhemyako is alone at the piano near the elevators, playing a slow, mournful rendition of Beethoven's Für Elise. The notes seep⁴ into the cavernous space.

Kozhemyako is the founder⁵ and CEO of Agrotrade Group, one of Ukraine's largest grain production, storage and export companies. But his focus is now on the war.

"Yes, I'm a businessman," he says. "And now I'm a commander of a military unit in Ukraine."

Kozhemyako set up and leads his own light infantry⁶ battalion. It's formally known as Khartia or "charter," and consists mostly of civilians⁷. It's casually⁸ called the "billionaire's battalion," referring to Kozhemyako's wealth in Ukrainian currency, not dollars. Along with other wealthy Ukrainians, Kozhemyako pays for training, weapons and vehicles. His unit takes orders from the army but operates independently.

From yachting to fighting

At 52, Kozhemyako has the lean physique of a long-distance runner. In 2017, he ran the New York City Marathon in less than 3 1/2 hours.

He is known for his taste in fine suits and passion for the outdoors. His prewar Instagram page is populated with shots of Swiss and Austrian ski vacations and cruising on yachts. Forbes Ukraine notes that the father of four skis, runs, bikes, golfs, all while managing tens of thousands of acres of farmland and a staff of 1,500.

Now he also has the furrowed⁹ brow and no-nonsense glare of a military commander in wartime.

For weeks on end, Russian ground forces had been shelling Kharkiv with mortars¹⁰ and artillery¹¹. The siege destroyed hundreds of buildings, forced hundreds of thousands to flee and brought life to a standstill.

In the midday darkness of the hotel lobby, Kozhemyako describes how his unit — along with the regular Ukrainian military — is part of a counteroffensive to push Russian forces away from Kharkiv.

"I just came from Ruska Lozova," he says of a town on the front line a few miles north of Kharkiv. "There was heavy shelling there. We were sitting without the possibility to leave the village. It's [the Khartia battalion] actually who are pushing the enemy farther and farther from the city. It's them who made these changes."

The counteroffensive has pushed the Russian troops back to the point where their conventional artillery can no longer hit the center of the city.

"Tonight there were three or four rockets which landed here and there were huge explosions," Kozhemyako says, noting that Russia can still launch long-distance cruise missiles at Kharkiv or anyplace else in Ukraine. "This is what they can do, but they cannot now use normal army artillery."

The Ukrainian counteroffensive north and east of Kharkiv essentially¹² broke the siege of the city. Now people are returning, some businesses are reopening and even the public transit¹³ system has started running again on a limited schedule.

Farmers, carpenters and factory workers have signed up for the battalion

Technically¹⁴, the Khartia battalion is a territorial¹⁵ defense¹⁶ unit, a wartime necessity that will go away when the war is over. Most such units are groups of local men who sit at makeshift, sandbagged roadblocks. After the invasion, the government handed out rifles to many of these volunteers, along with instructions on how to make Molotov cocktails¹⁷.

Kozhemyako's Khartia battalion is one of these volunteer units, on steroids.

Outside Kharkiv, new recruits are training in lush, green fields dotted with white flowers.

Igor Cornet, who spent nearly two decades in the Ukrainian military, is teaching the recruits how to attack a dug-in enemy position. He retired¹⁸ from the military as a lieutenant¹⁹ colonel before going back to college to study agriculture and eventually working with Kozhemyako at Agrotrade.

"Infantry is infantry!" he says with pride. And his job is to turn a collection of civilians into a light infantry battalion. Some of the men are in their teens, others are pushing 50. They are carpenters, factory workers and mechanics, among other things. Cornet says he even has one economist²⁰ whom he's training to fight. Most come from the Kharkiv region. Some are from areas currently occupied by the Russians.

"We don't win the war without infantry," Cornet declares. "When the soldiers stay here and say, 'I take this area!' we can say, 'yes, we take this.'"

You can bomb a place as much as you want, he says, but until you can send foot soldiers into the streets, you cannot truly control it.

The recruits are issued body armor, helmets and AK-47s. They use surveillance drones to monitor the battlefield. The unit has its own vehicles, all paid for by Kozhemyako and several other wealthy business people from Kharkiv.

After basic training, anyone who doesn't want to go to the front can quit and go back to their previous life. But that rarely happens, Cornet says, and the strength of these fighters is their motivation.

Before the invasion, 36-year-old Sergei Dubinski was a farmer. He grew wheat, sunflowers and garlic. Now he's going to fight on the front lines. He says he's not afraid of getting killed.

"I have a wife and I have a child," Dubinski says. "I want to be able to protect them. I want to be able to protect my country. So that we are able to do the things we did before the war."

If he doesn't step up to fight against the invasion, "Who else is going to protect us?"

Kozhemyako notes that territorial defense units such as his are only authorized²¹ under a special martial²² law.

"This is a special law for the wartime. As soon as the wartime is finished, we are again civilians," he says. His infantrymen can go back to growing wheat and building houses.

Kozhemyako predicts that this could be a long war. But once it's over, he says, he'll go back to being the jet-setting CEO.

1 battalion   

n.营；部队；大队(的人)

参考例句：

• The town was garrisoned by a battalion.该镇由一营士兵驻守。
• At the end of the drill parade,the battalion fell out.操练之后，队伍解散了。

2 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。

3 fatigues   

n.疲劳( fatigue的名词复数 )；杂役；厌倦；（士兵穿的）工作服

参考例句：

• The patient fatigues easily. 病人容易疲劳。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Instead of training the men were put on fatigues/fatigue duty. 那些士兵没有接受训练，而是派去做杂务。 来自辞典例句

4 seep   

v.渗出，渗漏；n.渗漏，小泉，水（油）坑

参考例句：

• My anger began to seep away.我的怒火开始消下去了。
• If meteoric water does not evaporate or run overland,it may seep directly into the ground.如果雨水不从陆地蒸发和流走的话，就可能直接渗入地下。

5 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

6 infantry   

n.[总称]步兵(部队)

参考例句：

• The infantry were equipped with flame throwers.步兵都装备有喷火器。
• We have less infantry than the enemy.我们的步兵比敌人少。

7 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。

8 casually   

adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地

参考例句：

• She remarked casually that she was changing her job.她当时漫不经心地说要换工作。
• I casually mentioned that I might be interested in working abroad.我不经意地提到我可能会对出国工作感兴趣。

9 furrowed   

v.犁田，开沟( furrow的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Overhead hung a summer sky furrowed with the rash of rockets. 头顶上的夏日夜空纵横着急疾而过的焰火。 来自辞典例句
• The car furrowed the loose sand as it crossed the desert. 车子横过沙漠，在松软的沙土上犁出了一道车辙。 来自辞典例句

10 mortars   

n.迫击炮( mortar的名词复数 )；砂浆；房产；研钵

参考例句：

• They could not move their heavy mortars over the swampy ground. 他们无法把重型迫击炮移过那片沼泽地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Where the hell are his mortars? 他有迫击炮吗？ 来自教父部分

11 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。

12 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。

13 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

14 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

15 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

16 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。

17 cocktails   

n.鸡尾酒( cocktail的名词复数 )；餐前开胃菜；混合物

参考例句：

• Come about 4 o'clock. We'll have cocktails and grill steaks. 请四点钟左右来，我们喝鸡尾酒，吃烤牛排。 来自辞典例句
• Cocktails were a nasty American habit. 喝鸡尾酒是讨厌的美国习惯。 来自辞典例句

18 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

19 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

20 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

21 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

22 martial   

adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的

参考例句：

• The sound of martial music is always inspiring.军乐声总是鼓舞人心的。
• The officer was convicted of desertion at a court martial.这名军官在军事法庭上被判犯了擅离职守罪。