美国国家公共电台 NPR--Ukrainian forces have withdrawn from the city of Lysychansk

Ukrainian forces have withdrawn¹ from the city of Lysychansk

Transcript²

Russia says it controls Ukraine's Luhansk region, one of the two eastern regions that have been the focus of its invasion. The announcement comes after Ukrainian troops withdrew from Lysychansk.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

Russian forces have scored a significant victory in the bitterly contested eastern Ukrainian province of Luhansk.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Ukrainian officials confirm their forces withdrew from the city of Lysychansk after months of shelling and, more recently, street fighting. The victory means Russia can now turn its attention firmly to the remaining Ukrainian-held territory in neighboring Donetsk province.

MART?NEZ: Joining us now from Kremenchuk is NPR's Jason Beaubien. Jason, can't say everyone's surprised by this, but how important is this as a victory strategically?

JASON BEAUBIEN, BYLINE³: Yeah, absolutely. You know, little by little, Russia's been making some steady advances in the east in recent days. You know, the latest place to fall, as you mentioned, is Lysychansk, and this follows the Ukrainian retreat last week from Sievierodonetsk. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy characterized both of those as tactical retreats. But it really is clear that Russia is pushing that front line to the west and grabbing more of the Donbas, and at a significant cost. Both sides have sustained heavy losses.

Zelenskyy last night said the pullback from Lysychansk, in his words, quote, "was to preserve the lives of our soldiers." And he added defiantly⁴, however, that Ukraine eventually will reclaim⁵ our land. But there's no doubt that this is a major victory for the Russians at the moment, and the momentum⁶ is sort of moving the Kremlin's way, at least in this part of the Donbas.

MART?NEZ: Yeah, we know Russia has a big advantage when it comes to artillery⁷ and long-range weapons. The U.S., though, has provided some of the longer-range weapons to Ukraine. Are they making a difference?

BEAUBIEN: Yes. Some of these weapons are making a difference, and some have reached the front lines, but they're arriving slowly. It's important to note that much of Ukraine's artillery before this war was Soviet-era equipment, which they simply can't get ammunition⁸ or spare parts for now. So getting ahold of these Western weapons, Ukrainian officials say, is going to be crucial for them as this war drags on.

MART?NEZ: Now, in the past week or so, we've also seen increase in the number of Russian missile attacks all over Ukraine, and attacks have come striking civilian⁹ targets, and many people have died. Tell us more about those.

BEAUBIEN: Yeah, well, I'm here in Kremenchuk, where a cruise missile slammed into a shopping mall last week, killing¹⁰ 21 people, injuring dozens more. Another series of strikes on Friday hit an apartment building and a recreation center near Odessa. That left another 21 people dead.

I was talking to Oleksandra Matviichuk. She's the head of the Center for Civil Liberties here in Ukraine. And she says these attacks on civilians¹¹ are not accidents. She says this is part of how Russia conducts war.

OLEKSANDRA MATVIICHUK: They really think that they can do whatever they wanted and they can say whatever they wanted. And they have never been punished for these war crimes for decades.

BEAUBIEN: You know, Russian officials here claim that these were both precision strikes on military targets. They say the mall that they hit - and it was in the middle of the afternoon at rush hour - was nonfunctioning, that it was shut down. A second missile, however, did strike the edge of a manufacturing plant that was adjacent to the mall, and that's probably what they were aiming for.

You know, but despite these claims from the Kremlin that civilian casualties are fake, we've been interviewing people who are still hospitalized with burns and wounds from the flying debris¹² at the mall. One man we met, he lost his wife, and he had his right arm amputated because the mall blew up around him. Matviichuk says she expects we're going to see more of these attacks on civilians in the coming weeks in an effort to wear down the Ukrainian public and push Zelenskyy to the bargaining table for peace talks.

MART?NEZ: That's NPR's Jason Beaubien in Kremenchuk, Ukraine. Jason, thanks.

BEAUBIEN: You're welcome.

1 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

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 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 defiantly   

adv.挑战地，大胆对抗地

参考例句：

• Braving snow and frost, the plum trees blossomed defiantly. 红梅傲雪凌霜开。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• She tilted her chin at him defiantly. 她向他翘起下巴表示挑衅。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 reclaim   

v.要求归还，收回；开垦

参考例句：

• I have tried to reclaim my money without success.我没能把钱取回来。
• You must present this ticket when you reclaim your luggage.当你要取回行李时，必须出示这张票子。

6 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。

7 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。

8 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。

9 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

10 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

11 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。

12 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。