美国国家公共电台 NPR--Ukraine: grain leaves port and calls grow for a probe into POWs' deaths

Ukraine: grain leaves port and calls grow for a probe into POWs' deaths

Transcript¹

The first ship carrying Ukrainian grain leaves the port of Odesa. Ukraine and Russia exchange accusations² over who bombed a prison colony holding Ukrainian POWs in occupied Donbas.

AMART?NEZ, HOST:

The world food crisis prompted by Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine may be showing signs of easing.

ASMA KHALID, HOST:

Tens of millions of tons of agricultural products have been trapped in Ukrainian ports because of the war. But this morning, for the first time since the outbreak of the war, the very first shipment holding grain has left Odesa. But meanwhile, violence is continuing, claiming the lives of dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war.

MART?NEZ: NPR's Tim Mak joins us now from Kyiv. Tim, let's start with the food crisis. Just over a week ago, the U.N. and Turkey helped put together a deal to export grain from Ukraine's Black Sea ports. And today, it sounds like there's progress.

TIM MAK, BYLINE³: Right. Well, so the first ship left the port of Odesa this morning carrying 26,000 tons of corn and flying the flag of Sierra Leone. It's bound for the city of Tripoli in Lebanon. It's a step forward in easing this food crisis that has developed due to the war in Ukraine. Now, you've got to remember that 40% of the world food programs' wheat supplies come from Ukraine. And food prices all over the world have soared since the war began. But the agreements between Russia, the U.N., Turkey, Ukraine, they're still tenuous⁴. Just a day after these agreements were signed, Russian missiles struck the port of Odesa. And it raised questions about whether these deals would hold. The agreements also don't address another brewing⁵ crisis, and that's that President Zelenskyy said yesterday that Ukraine's harvest this year could be halved⁶ due to the war.

MART?NEZ: And just a few days ago, there was also a bombing of a prison in Russian-held territory holding Ukrainian prisoners of war. What do you know about that?

MAK: Well, you'll remember that we've spoken a lot about this group of Ukrainian soldiers that held out in a steel plant in Mariupol for nearly three months while being surrounded by Russian forces. These soldiers are viewed as heroes in Ukraine. And they ultimately surrendered to the Russians in a deal brokered⁷ by the Red Cross and the U.N. On Friday morning, the Russian government announced that a prison holding some of these prisoners had been bombed, killing⁸ dozens and injuring many more. Now, Russia claims that Ukraine bombed the prison, killing its own soldiers and using America-supplied HIMARS rockets. Ukraine has said that Russia bombed the prison in order to cover up the torture and execution of prisoners of war. And there's reason to doubt the Russian claim. The Washington, D.C., think tank the Institute for the Study of War had looked at the images of the attack after the attack. And they say that it doesn't really show the sort of damage that HIMARS would cause. The Russian foreign ministry⁹ has also announced that it has invited the Red Cross to investigate the site of the bombing in Russian-held eastern Ukraine.

MART?NEZ: And what has the U.S. government said about this?

MAK: Well, Bridget Brink¹⁰, she's the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. She called the attack on the prison, quote, "unconscionable." Meanwhile, there's been this push in the U.S. government supported by the Ukrainian government to formally designate Russia a state sponsor of terrorism. This would trigger new sanctions on the Russian government and additional penalties for those doing business with the Russian government. Last week, the Senate unanimously passed a non-binding resolution calling on the Biden administration to make exactly that designation.

MART?NEZ: NPR's Tim Mak is in Kyiv. Tim, thanks.

MAK: Thanks so much.

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 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

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 tenuous   

adj.细薄的，稀薄的，空洞的

参考例句：

• He has a rather tenuous grasp of reality.他对现实认识很肤浅。
• The air ten miles above the earth is very tenuous.距离地面十公里的空气十分稀薄。

5 brewing   

n. 酿造, 一次酿造的量 动词brew的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• It was obvious that a big storm was brewing up. 很显然，一场暴风雨正在酝酿中。
• She set about brewing some herb tea. 她动手泡一些药茶。

6 halved   

v.把…分成两半( halve的过去式和过去分词 )；把…减半；对分；平摊

参考例句：

• The shares have halved in value . 股价已经跌了一半。
• Overall operating profits halved to $24 million. 总的营业利润减少了一半，降至2，400 万元。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 brokered   

adj.由权力经纪人安排（或控制）的v.做掮客（或中人等）( broker的过去式和过去分词 )；作为权力经纪人进行谈判；以中间人等身份安排…

参考例句：

• a peace plan brokered by the UN 由联合国出面协商的和平计划
• Your husband brokered the deal to go in, transfrer the assets and get our man out. 你丈夫后来插了一脚，把生意都抢了过去，我们的人也被挤了出来。 来自电影对白

8 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。

9 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

10 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。