美国国家公共电台 NPR--Lithuania urges the world to stand up against Russia

Lithuania urges the world to stand up against Russia

Transcript¹

Lithuania has warned its neighbors for years about the dangers posed by Russia. The country is once again calling for the international community to do more to stop Russia.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

We report now on a bid to hold Russia accountable for an invasion - not the invasion of Ukraine but earlier military action in Lithuania. That Baltic nation, once part of the Soviet² Union, was last occupied by Russian troops in the 1990s. But for many Lithuanians, it's like it happened yesterday. And that shapes their view of events today. NPR's Rob Schmitz reports from the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius.

ROB SCHMITZ, BYLINE³: For years, Lithuania and its neighbors along the Baltic Sea have warned the rest of Europe about the dangers posed by Russia. And for years, says Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte, Lithuania was ignored. Instead, she says, she and her predecessors⁴ were called paranoid, accused of exaggerating Russia's threat to the world.

PRIME MINISTER INGRIDA SIMONYTE: This is a situation where you would want to say, I've told you so. But there is very little amount of sort of happiness of being right.

SCHMITZ: Lithuania's long-troubled history of Russian occupation goes back hundreds of years, with the last episode culminating in 1991. The Soviet Union was disintegrating⁵, and Lithuania was the first of the Soviet states to declare independence.

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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #1: In a move reminiscent of past Soviet leadership, Moscow today launched a military crackdown in the Baltic Republic of Lithuania in an attempt to stop the drive for independence there.

SCHMITZ: American news reports from January 13 of that year captured the moment that Soviet troops attempted to retake the capital, Vilnius.

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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #2: Tanks crushed cars like flimsy toys. We saw one driver dead, trapped inside. Soldiers used nightsticks, smoke bombs and, at last, live ammunition⁶.

SCHMITZ: Soviet soldiers killed 14 Lithuanians that night, including Apolinaras Povilaitis. His son Robertas was 14 at the time.

ROBERTAS POVILAITIS: For Lithuania, that was a turning point.

SCHMITZ: Povilaitis now works as a psychologist and runs a hotline for children who need help. He says after the breakup of the Soviet Union, the world made a big mistake. The West failed to hold Moscow accountable.

POVILAITIS: The Soviet regime was not assessed internationally as a criminal regime, so they continued. And some names changed, some people changed. But this repressive culture, the aggressive government, continue.

SCHMITZ: On January 13 of this year, the 31st anniversary of the Soviet crackdown, Povilaitis filed a civil lawsuit⁷ against Mikhail Gorbachev for the death of his father. At the end of March, a Lithuanian court accepted the case and is now starting procedures against the former Soviet leader. Povilaitis says Russia's war in Ukraine is just the latest example of why the world is overdue⁸ in holding Russia's leadership accountable for what he calls decades of crimes against humanity.

POVILAITIS: Those who were taking part in this war should receive some consequences. And if that does not happen, so Russia will continue being Russia as it is now.

SCHMITZ: And Povilaitis isn't the only one here taking action. In April, an artist filled a pond in Vilnius with red dye, transforming it to the color of blood, and then a swimmer from Lithuania's Olympic team swam through it. The pond was in front of the Russian Embassy, and the performance was captured in an eerie⁹ video. Thirty-three-year-old Neringa Rekasiute was the artist behind this. She says Russia's war in Ukraine has brought Lithuania's deep-seated feelings about Moscow to the surface.

NERINGA REKASIUTE: I guess we kind of impersonate this struggle because we really want to be in the West, and we are finally. And now something like that is happening for Ukrainians. And for us, it's like, at the same time, reliving our own history.

SCHMITZ: And in reliving that history, other Lithuanians are also preparing for the worst. The Lithuanian Riflemen's Union is a state-supported paramilitary organization that trains citizens how to use a gun. Fifty-year-old photographer Paulius Zavadskis never thought he'd pick one up, but he decided¹⁰ to join the union after Russia invaded Ukraine.

PAULIUS ZAVADSKIS: (Through interpreter) I need to learn how to shoot because if, God forbid, I would have to use a gun, then I know what I'm doing. We see how fragile everything is around us. Honestly, what the Ukrainians are doing now, they're giving us time to prepare.

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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Non-English language spoken).

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Non-English language spoken).

SCHMITZ: On March 11, Lithuania's Independence Restoration Day, Zavadskis graduated from basic training and took the Rifleman Union's oath, alongside hundreds of others, including the prime minister, Ingrida Simonyte, who had also just completed the course. Simonyte says there was a debate recently about whether Vladimir Putin is aiming to recreate the Soviet Union or the Russian Empire. In either scenario¹¹, she says, Lithuania would once again be under threat.

SIMONYTE: Of course, that might mean not a direct occupation. That might mean to have, you know, a puppet government. Like, you know, why do you need to take the country onto your budget? It's very expensive. But you can have a proxy¹² in the countries, especially in countries that are integrated into Western markets and where you can also make business.

SCHMITZ: Simonyte's government has officially declared Putin's Russia a terrorist state. And she says Lithuanians, the Baltic States, Europe and the rest of the world need to be more vigilant¹³.

Rob Schmitz, NPR News, Vilnius.

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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 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

3 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。

4 predecessors   

n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Will new plan be any more acceptable than its predecessors? 新计划比原先的计划更能令人满意吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 disintegrating   

v.（使）破裂[分裂，粉碎]，（使）崩溃( disintegrate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• As a poetic version of a disintegrating world, this one pleased him. 作为世界崩溃论在文学上的表现，他非常喜欢这个学说。 来自辞典例句
• Soil animals increase the speed of litter breakdown by disintegrating tissue. 土壤动物通过分解组织，加速落叶层降解的速度。 来自辞典例句

6 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

7 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

8 overdue   

adj.过期的，到期未付的；早该有的，迟到的

参考例句：

• The plane is overdue and has been delayed by the bad weather.飞机晚点了，被坏天气耽搁了。
• The landlady is angry because the rent is overdue.女房东生气了，因为房租过期未付。

9 eerie   

adj.怪诞的；奇异的；可怕的；胆怯的

参考例句：

• It's eerie to walk through a dark wood at night.夜晚在漆黑的森林中行走很是恐怖。
• I walked down the eerie dark path.我走在那条漆黑恐怖的小路上。

10 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。

11 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

12 proxy   

n.代理权，代表权；（对代理人的）委托书；代理人

参考例句：

• You may appoint a proxy to vote for you.你可以委托他人代你投票。
• We enclose a form of proxy for use at the Annual General Meeting.我们附上委任年度大会代表的表格。

13 vigilant   

adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的

参考例句：

• He has to learn how to remain vigilant through these long nights.他得学会如何在这漫长的黑夜里保持警觉。
• The dog kept a vigilant guard over the house.这只狗警醒地守护着这所房屋。