Explosions Hit Russian-controlled Crimea

搜索

复制

Explosions Hit Russian-controlled Crimea

Large explosions and fires hit a military base in Russian-controlled Crimea Tuesday. It is the second time that the war in Ukraine has expanded to the area.

Russia called the explosions at the ammunition¹ storage center an "act of sabotage²" but did not say who was responsible. The incident interfered³ with train service and forced more than 3,000 people to leave the area.

The Russian newspaper Kommersant reported local people saw black smoke rising over the air base in the Crimean city of Gvardeyskoye. Last week, nine Russian warplanes were destroyed following several explosions at the Saki air base.

Ukraine has not confirmed or denied responsibility for the two explosions. But, its officials have openly cheered incidents in territory that, until last week, appeared to be safely under Russian control.

The two incidents, in the Dzhankoi area, were about 50 kilometers from the Russian-controlled city of Kherson in southern Ukraine. Ukrainian troops have recently attacked the area, targeting supply paths for the Russian military there and ammunition storage centers.

Russia annexed⁵ Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. Russia has used the area to provide supplies and support for its troops fighting in Ukraine. The Crimean Peninsula is home to Russia's Black Sea Fleet and is popular with summer visitors.

Russia's demand that Ukraine recognize Crimea as part of Russia has been one of the conditions for ending the war. Ukraine has promised to drive Russians out of the peninsula and other occupied territories.

Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

More attention has also centered in recent days on the fighting near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine. Russia has controlled the nuclear center since March, but Ukrainian workers operate it.

Last week, both sides blamed each other for possible risks to Europe's largest nuclear center after several shells struck the area. The United Nations called for an end to military activities around the center and a visit by nuclear inspectors⁶ to ensure its safety. Ukraine officials say up to 400,000 people would need to be evacuated⁷ in the event of an accident

Also, fighting continues in the Donbas area in the east and in Kharkiv to the north. A Ukrainian official said an overnight attack in the area was "one of the most massive⁸ shellings of Kharkiv in recent days."

Some good news

Some good news did come out of the area. A U.N.-operated ship loaded with Ukrainian grain is carrying humanitarian⁹ food aid to East Africa. It is the first such trip since the start of the war in February.

An agreement supported by the U.N. and Turkey permits Russian and Ukrainian agricultural products to be shipped to Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Millions of people in those areas have been threatened with hunger and poverty because of increases in food and energy prices.

Words in This Story

sabotage –n. the act of destroying or damaging something deliberately¹⁰ so that it does not work correctly

annex⁴ –v. to add (an area or region) to a country, state; to take control of (a territory or place)

1 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。

2 sabotage   

n.怠工，破坏活动，破坏；v.从事破坏活动，妨害，破坏

参考例句：

• They tried to sabotage my birthday party.他们企图破坏我的生日晚会。
• The fire at the factory was caused by sabotage.那家工厂的火灾是有人蓄意破坏引起的。

3 interfered   

v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉

参考例句：

• Complete absorption in sports interfered with his studies. 专注于运动妨碍了他的学业。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I am not going to be interfered with. 我不想别人干扰我的事情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 annex   

vt.兼并，吞并；n.附属建筑物

参考例句：

• It plans to annex an England company in order to enlarge the market.它计划兼并一家英国公司以扩大市场。
• The annex has been built on to the main building.主楼配建有附属的建筑物。

5 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。

6 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 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。

8 massive   

adj.巨大的，大规模的，大量的，大范围的

参考例句：

• A massive sea search has failed to find any survivors.经过大规模的海上搜救仍未找到幸存者。
• He drank a massive amount of alcohol.他喝了大量的烈酒。

9 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。

10 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。