美国国家公共电台 NPR--Momentum in the war has shifted and Ukraine says it needs more weapons

Momentum¹ in the war has shifted and Ukraine says it needs more weapons

Transcript²

As NATO countries begin talks in Brussels, Ukraine is making its message clear: send more heavy weapons and fast. Ukraine's outgunned military is losing ground to Russia in the east of the country.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

As NATO countries begin talks in Brussels, Ukraine is sending a very clear message - they need more heavy weapons, and fast. Ukraine's military is losing ground to Russia in the heavy fighting in the eastern part of the country. NPR's Greg Myre is in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, where a top adviser³ to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told him why Ukraine thinks it needs these weapons so urgently.

GREG MYRE, BYLINE⁴: The momentum in the war has shifted. Russia has this overwhelming advantage in heavy artillery⁵. It's using this firepower to grind down Ukraine in the eastern part of the country. It's on the verge⁶ of capturing another key city, Severodonetsk. And to drive home this message, a senior presidential adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, invited an NPR team into the heavily fortified⁷ presidential compound on a hill overlooking the city. And like a lot of people in President Zelenskyy's administration, Podolyak is young and informal. He was wearing a black T-shirt that read, fight like Ukrainians. There were several pairs of sneakers next to his desk. So his appearance was very casual, but his message was very, very serious. Ukraine is in a tough spot on the battlefield right now.

MART?NEZ: All right, so what specifically, then, is Ukraine looking for?

MYRE: Well, they couldn't be more direct. Podolyak himself tweeted out a wish list on Monday. He says, Ukraine wants a thousand howitzers, a thousand drones, 500 tanks, and the list goes on from there. And in our talk, here's how he described the Russian advantage on the battlefield.

MYKHAILO PODOLYAK: (Through interpreter) Now we see that this is truly a war of artillery, and we see that they are shooting by a ratio of 10 or 15 to 1. Again, the math is clear. We will need parity⁸ of weapons if we're going to be effective in any sort of counteroffensive.

MART?NEZ: All right, so a thousand howitzers, a thousand drones - how doable is that?

MYRE: Well, the U.S. and NATO have been sending weapons that he's asking for, and more are on the way, but they're not coming in nearly these quantities, and there's little chance that they will. Now, Ukraine is speaking out loudly right now because NATO is starting a two-day meeting in Brussels today - U.S. Defense⁹ Secretary Lloyd Austin will be there - and this will provide a sense of whether NATO is able and willing to ramp¹⁰ up weapons shipments to Ukraine above and beyond what member states have already done.

MART?NEZ: Any other options for Ukraine if that doesn't work out?

MYRE: Well, not really. Podolyak explained that Ukraine is facing a growing problem. Many of its existing weapons, which date to the Soviet¹¹ era - Ukraine is burning through the ammunition¹² stockpiles, and Russia is pretty much the only country that still makes ammunition for these weapons. So as this war grinds on, Ukraine says that some of these weapons could essentially¹³ become useless, and that means they'll have to rely more and more on a modern NATO arsenal¹⁴. And in one final note - as we were about to leave Podolyak's office, he stopped and offered us one final message. If you get anything out of this interview, he said, it's weapons, weapons, weapons.

MART?NEZ: OK. That's NPR's Greg Myre in Kyiv. Greg, thanks a lot.

MYRE: My pleasure.

1 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

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 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

4 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。

5 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。

6 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

7 fortified   

adj. 加强的

参考例句：

• He fortified himself against the cold with a hot drink. 他喝了一杯热饮御寒。
• The enemy drew back into a few fortified points. 敌人收缩到几个据点里。

8 parity   

n.平价，等价，比价，对等

参考例句：

• The two currencies have now reached parity.这两种货币现已达到同等价值。
• Women have yet to achieve wage or occupational parity in many fields.女性在很多领域还没能争取到薪金、职位方面的平等。

9 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。

10 ramp   

n.暴怒，斜坡，坡道；vi.作恐吓姿势，暴怒，加速；vt.加速

参考例句：

• That driver drove the car up the ramp.那司机将车开上了斜坡。
• The factory don't have that capacity to ramp up.这家工厂没有能力加速生产。

11 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。

12 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。

13 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。

14 arsenal   

n.兵工厂，军械库

参考例句：

• Even the workers at the arsenal have got a secret organization.兵工厂工人暗中也有组织。
• We must be the great arsenal of democracy.我们必须成为民主的大军火库。