VOA新闻杂志2022--乌克兰到处都是战争的迹象

Signs of War Are Everywhere in Ukraine

No matter where Ukrainians live, the 3-month-old war never seems to be far away.

Those in towns and villages near the front lines hide in basements from constant shelling. They are struggling to survive with no electricity or gas, and often no running water.

But even in areas out of the range of big guns, frequent air raid alarms sound. They are a reminder¹ that a Russian missile can strike at any time—even for people living in cities like Kyiv, Odesa and Lviv.

"City residents are trying to return to regular life, but with every step, they stumble upon either a crater² or a ruined house or a grave," said Andriy Pustovoi. He spoke³ by phone to The Associated Press from the northern city of Chernihiv.

Chernihiv was in the way of Russian forces as they moved toward Kyiv early in the war. It was heavily attacked. Mayor Vladyslav Atroshenko said about half of its buildings were damaged or destroyed. At least 700 residents were killed, and part of a city park now holds a cemetery⁴, where some of them are buried.

Its streets are mostly empty now, half of the shops have not reopened, and public transportation is not working at times, said Pustovoi.

Few people are seen on the streets of Kramatorsk, as well.

The eastern city has been hit several times. The worst attack came on April 8, when a missile struck near its train station where about 4,000 people had gathered to be evacuated⁶. A total of 57 people were killed, and over 100 wounded.

Kramatorsk is one of the largest cities in the industrial Donbas that Russian forces have not taken over. The Donbas has seen battles between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian government forces since 2014.

Elsewhere in the Donbas, the situation is even worse.

Ryisa Rybalko fled the village of Novomykhailivka. She lived there first in a basement and then in a bomb shelter at a school.

"We haven't been able to see the sun for three months. We are almost blind because we were in darkness for three months," she said.

After Russian forces failed to capture Kyiv in the opening weeks of the war, they withdrew to the east. Residents have started to reenter the capital. The nightly curfew has been reduced by an hour, and public transportation started running longer. They face long lines at gas stations. And the economy is greatly weakened.

But the National Opera started performances again last week in Kyiv. And some restaurants, cafes and shops in cities like Odesa and Zaporizhzhia have reopened.

Lviv, a city in western Ukraine, has received more than 300,000 people fleeing other conflict areas. About 1,000 arrive at its train station daily.

Hotels, campgrounds, universities and schools ran out of space for them long ago. The city has built temporary housing that looks like shipping⁷ containers in city parks.

In cities and towns of southern Ukraine, the war continues regularly.

In the village of Velyka Kostromka, the remaining residents try to go on with life despite the occasional attacks.

At least 20 houses were damaged on a recent morning, including three that were destroyed. A woman and her three children barely survived.

Hours later, a farmer was back in his potato field, looking at a small crater left behind. He quickly moved to rake over it.

Words in This Story

resident — n. someone who lives in a particular place

stumble — v. to hit your foot on something when you are walking or running so that you fall or almost fall

crater — n. a large round hole in the ground made by the explosion of a bomb or by something falling from the sky

cemetery — n. a place where dead people are buried

evacuate⁵ — v.to leave a dangerous place

curfew — n. an order or law that requires people to be indoors after a certain time at night

rake — v. to use a rake to gather leaves, break apart soil, make ground smooth, etc.

1 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

2 crater   

n.火山口，弹坑

参考例句：

• With a telescope you can see the huge crater of Ve-suvius.用望远镜你能看到巨大的维苏威火山口。
• They came to the lip of a dead crater.他们来到了一个死火山口。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

5 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

6 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。

7 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。