美国国家公共电台 NPR--Russia claims its occupied territories in Ukraine voted to become part of Russia

Russia claims its occupied territories in Ukraine voted to become part of Russia

Transcript¹

Final results from so-called referendums in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine indicate overwhelming² support for joining the Russian Federation³. The voting is widely condemned⁴ as a sham⁵.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

The final results of the so-called referendums in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine are in. And unsurprisingly, the votes staged by Russia are overwhelmingly⁶ in favor of joining the Russian Federation. The results followed five days of voting and widespread reports of voter coercion⁷ and intimidation⁸, all of it illegal under Ukrainian and international law and widely condemned as a sham. NPR's Kat Lonsdorf is in Ukraine. And she joins me now. Hi, Kat.

KAT LONSDORF, BYLINE⁹: Hey, Leila.

FADEL: So Kat, you've spent the past few days getting as close as you can to these occupied areas. What have you been hearing?

LONSDORF: Yeah, that's right. I've been out talking to people in villages and towns near the southern front line. And one thing that stuck out to me is that pretty much everyone I talked to has rolled their eyes at these referendums the second I ask about them, calling them fake¹⁰ or staged. Many people told me they weren't going to pay attention to the results, that Ukraine's army was just going to win back the land soon anyway. And they kind of scoffed¹¹ at the whole thing.

FADEL: OK. But that might just be defiance¹², right? I mean, these could have real implications, not just for the people who live inside these occupied areas, but for those living close by as well, right?

LONSDORF: Yeah, exactly. I talked to one woman, 65-year-old Natalia Nazarenko (ph). She was in the town of Zelenodolsk. It's near the occupied area of Kherson. And there was lots of active fighting happening nearby when I talked to her. You could just hear the shelling in the distance constantly while we were talking.

NATALIA NAZARENKO: (Non-English language spoken).

LONSDORF: And she told me, yeah, she's worried. Even as Ukraine's army pushes back, there's still a real chance that Russians could come to her town and occupy it, hold a similar referendum. And there have also been a lot of reports about it getting harder and harder to leave these occupied areas. Kherson in the south, for example, seems nearly impossible to leave now.

FADEL: Now, there have been these reports of voter coercion. What have you heard about that? I mean, I understand it's difficult to get information out of these occupied areas. But what have you heard?

LONSDORF: Yeah, it's really hard to get information. Cell signals and internet have been jammed lately. But I did talk to a good number of people on the other side, in the Ukrainian-held areas, who had managed to hear from friends and relatives inside the occupied areas. And one man I talked to yesterday said his sister had been essentially¹³ forced to vote yes when Russian soldiers came into her home with guns. She told them that these soldiers then went and kicked down her neighbor's door when her neighbors had tried to hide to avoid the vote. And I heard stories like this from many people in the last few days. Now, a lot of people have left these areas who just didn't want to vote. And many others just couldn't leave. And, yeah, there are some people in those areas that probably did vote yes willingly. But based on what I've heard, it's just really, really hard to believe that a majority of people did.

FADEL: So what happens now?

LONSDORF: Well, we're still waiting to see. When a similar referendum happened in 2014 in Crimea, we saw that area annexed¹⁴ pretty quickly, even as the international community refused to recognize it. So we might see that happen in the coming days. And that could mean that Moscow could see any attempt by Ukraine to win back their land as an attack on Russian soil itself. And I will say, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been throwing around the threat of nuclear weapons if that happens. Also, there have already been reports, which are hard to verify, of Russia mobilizing¹⁵ Ukrainian men out of these areas to fight for Russia, essentially saying that these areas are now part of Russia. I mean, how willing those men would be to fight for Russia, that's another story.

FADEL: NPR's Kat Lonsdorf reporting from Dnipro, Ukraine. Thanks, Kat.

LONSDORF: Thanks, Leila.

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 overwhelming   

adj.势不可挡的，压倒的，无法抵抗的

参考例句：

• The flood was overwhelming and the city was soon drowned.洪水来势凶猛，很快这个城市就被淹没了。
• The act was adopted by an overwhelming majority.该法案以压倒多数通过。

3 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

4 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

5 sham   

n./adj.假冒(的)，虚伪(的)

参考例句：

• They cunningly played the game of sham peace.他们狡滑地玩弄假和平的把戏。
• His love was a mere sham.他的爱情是虚假的。

6 overwhelmingly   

adv.压倒性地；不可抵抗地

参考例句：

• They voted overwhelmingly against the proposal. 他们以压倒多数票否决了该提案。
• The local economy is overwhelmingly dependent on oil and gas extraction. 当地经济过于依赖石油和天然气的开采。

7 coercion   

n.强制，高压统治

参考例句：

• Neither trickery nor coercion is used to secure confessions.既不诱供也不逼供。
• He paid the money under coercion.他被迫付钱。

8 intimidation   

n.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• The Opposition alleged voter intimidation by the army.反对党声称投票者受到军方的恐吓。
• The gang silenced witnesses by intimidation.恶帮用恐吓的手段使得证人不敢说话。

9 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。

10 fake   

vt.伪造，造假，假装；n.假货，赝品

参考例句：

• He can tell a fake from the original.他能分辨出赝品和真品。
• You can easily fake up an excuse to avoid going out with him.你可以很容易地编造一个借口而不与他一同外出。

11 scoffed   

嘲笑，嘲弄( scoff的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He scoffed at our amateurish attempts. 他对我们不在行的尝试嗤之以鼻。
• A hundred years ago people scoffed at the idea. 一百年前人们曾嘲笑过这种想法。

12 defiance   

n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗

参考例句：

• He climbed the ladder in defiance of the warning.他无视警告爬上了那架梯子。
• He slammed the door in a spirit of defiance.他以挑衅性的态度把门砰地一下关上。

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 annexed   

[法] 附加的，附属的

参考例句：

• Germany annexed Austria in 1938. 1938年德国吞并了奥地利。
• The outlying villages were formally annexed by the town last year. 那些偏远的村庄于去年正式被并入该镇。

15 mobilizing   

动员起来，调动，鼓动起( mobilize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• It is one of mobilizing all positive forces to build socialism. 就是调动一切积极力量，为了建设社会主义。
• We can do the work well only by mobilizing all positive factors. 只有调动一切积极因素，我们才能做好这项工作。