Young ballerinas from Kharkiv are now among millions displaced by Ukraine's war

Young ballerinas from Kharkiv are now among millions displaced by Ukraine's war

Transcript¹

LVIV, Ukraine — On a brilliant spring afternoon, Kateryna Klevtsova pulls a bright-pink suitcase through a park in Lviv. She is trailed by her two daughters, 11-year-old Maria and 7-year-old Nadia.

"They are ballerinas," Klevtsova says, her voice weary. "And I am a teacher at the Kharkiv ballet school."

Here's how fast the war in Ukraine has shattered lives: At Christmas, Klevtsova's children danced in a lavish² production of The Nutcracker in their hometown of Kharkiv. With Easter approaching, Kharkiv is now under siege by Russian forces who have been shelling the suburbs with artillery³ and rockets.

"It's a very beautiful city," Klevtsova says, "but now it's broken, day after day more. It's very painful for me, you know."

More than 10 million Ukrainians — roughly one in four people — have been displaced by this war, most of them women and children. For now, the city of Lviv in western Ukraine is safe. It's packed with families like the Klevtsovas who've been scattered⁴ by violence, separated from their loved ones and their old lives.

To show what her family has lost, Klevtsova takes out her phone and pulls up photographs and videos of children learning the steps of the ballet.

After watching herself in one phone video, 11-year-old Maria grins and goes in her puffy white coat and tennis shoes to give a little performance right there in the park. She stretches forward gracefully⁵, one leg rising behind.

But when asked about these last few days, the girl slumps⁶ and looks away.

"Yes," Maria says, "I worry. This is for me a nightmare."

Her father has stayed behind in Kharkiv as part of the territorial⁷ defense⁸ force.

"I worry," she says, "yes, so much."

Like many displaced persons passing through Lviv, the Klevtsovas still seem in shock by this war that started roughly 50 days ago.

The girls' mother says she used to live in Moscow, loved it there and still has many friends in Russia. Now she feels betrayed.

"All my dreams about my children, because they are small ballerinas, they are broken," she says.

Klevtsova finally decided⁹ it was time to flee when she saw images of dead bodies scattered in the suburbs around Kyiv. The family has been in Lviv almost a week and now plans to leave for France, where they will stay a while with relatives. They've just bought the pink suitcase for that trip.

But money is already tight and Klevtsova is not sure how long she'll be welcomed by her family.

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"I don't know. I don't have work now. I don't know what I will do after," she says.

Despite her fears, and her doubts for the future, Klevtsova believes people in Kharkiv, including her husband, will keep fighting and she will one day be able to return home.

"Yes, of course I believe," she says. "I believe and I want to go home. And I believe we will win."

And then the Klevtsovas set off again, a mother and her two little ballerinas, pulling their pink suitcase through the park.

Iryna Matviyishyn contributed to this story in Lviv.

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 lavish   

adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍

参考例句：

• He despised people who were lavish with their praises.他看不起那些阿谀奉承的人。
• The sets and costumes are lavish.布景和服装极尽奢华。

3 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

4 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

5 gracefully   

ad.大大方方地；优美地

参考例句：

• She sank gracefully down onto a cushion at his feet. 她优雅地坐到他脚旁的垫子上。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line. 新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

6 slumps   

萧条期( slump的名词复数 )； （个人、球队等的）低潮状态； （销售量、价格、价值等的）骤降； 猛跌

参考例句：

• Deflation could emerge from simultaneous slumps in the world's three major economies. 如果世界经济三大主体同时衰退，通货紧缩就会出现。
• This is the cycle of economic booms and slumps. 这是经济繁荣和经济萧条的周期变化。

7 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

8 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。