VOA新闻杂志2022--第一批平民离开乌克兰亚速钢厂

First Civilians¹ Evacuated² from Mariupol Steel Plant

A group of civilians has safely left the grounds of a steel factory in the eastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol. Hundreds had sought refuge there since Russian troops took control of the rest of the city.

More than 100 mostly women and children travelled on buses, ambulances and other vehicles toward for the Ukrainian-controlled city of Zaporizhzhia, about 230 kilometers to the northwest, Russian and Ukrainian officials reported. Each side shared videos of the operation.

Mariupol Deputy Mayor Sergei Orlov told the BBC that the evacuees³ would probably not arrive on Monday as planned. He said they were making slow progress but gave no explanation for such a delay.

At least some of the civilians were apparently⁴ taken to a village controlled by separatists loyal to Russia. The Russian military said some of the evacuees chose to stay in territory under separatist control. It said others left for Ukrainian-held territory.

Orlov said high-level talks were taking place among Ukraine, Russia and international groups about organizing more evacuations.

The United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross carried out Sunday's evacuation during a brief ceasefire at the factory. Officials from the groups described the effort as a "safe passage operation."

Before the weekend, about 1,000 civilians were believed to be camped at the steel factory, along with an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian fighters, The Associated Press reported. Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk called the situation at the city's steel factory "a real humanitarian⁵ catastrophe⁶."

Overall, as many as 100,000 Ukrainian civilians may still be in Mariupol. The city has experienced a two-month bombing campaign. Russian troops now control all other parts of Mariupol, which had a pre-war population of more than 400,000.

Russian attacks on the city have trapped civilians with limited supplies of food, water, medicine and electricity.

Some Mariupol residents got out of the city on their own, in private, often damaged, cars.

Yaroslav Dmytryshyn arrived at a welcome center in Zaporizhzhia in a car full of children. Signs on the car were marked with the words, "Children" and "Little ones."

"I can't believe we survived," he said, looking tired but in good spirits about their safe arrival after two days on the road.

"There is no Mariupol whatsoever,'' he said. "Someone needs to rebuild it, and it will take millions of tons of gold." He said his family lived just across the railroad tracks from the steel plant. "Ruined," he said. "The factory is gone completely."

Anastasiia Dembytska, also fled her Mariupol home from which she could see the factory. "We could see the rockets flying" and clouds of smoke over the plant, she said.

She escaped with her daughter, nephew and dog during the brief break in attacks.

Words in This Story

evacuation – n. the removal of someone or something from a dangerous place

catastrophe – n. an extremely bad event that causes a lot of suffering or destruction

resident – n. someone who lives at a particular place

1 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。

2 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

3 evacuees   

n.被疏散者( evacuee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Moreover, for multi-exits, evacuees select a exit based on game theory. 在有多个出口时，疏散人员根据对策论选择出口。 来自互联网
• Evacuees wade through flooded area following heavy monsoon rains in Peshawar on Saturday, July 31, 2010. 撤离灾区涉水通过后在白沙瓦沉重的季风降雨在周六，2010年7月31日。 来自互联网

4 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

5 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

6 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。