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美国国家公共电台 NPR--Another casualty of Russia's war: Some Ukrainians no longer trust their neighbors

时间:2023-09-13 15:58:06

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(单词翻译)

Another casualty of Russia's war: Some Ukrainians no longer trust their neighbors

Transcript1

KUPIANSK, Ukraine — Volodymyr Tsyba was insulted.

Sipping2 homemade wine, Tsyba recounts how four intelligence agents showed up at his house outside Kupiansk early last month, just a few days after the northeastern Ukrainian town was liberated3 from Russian occupation.

They were looking for Russian collaborators.

"'Are you these people?" he says the agents asked him and his wife. "Get your things. Come with us."

The agents were part of the Security Service of Ukraine, known as the SBU. They had badges. They had weapons.

"It was scary," says his wife Svitlana.

The officers drove them to the police station, where they questioned the couple for two hours. They pressed Svitlana about her work as a clerk for the surrounding villages of Kupiansk.

They wanted to know why she was continuing to work for the Russians. She told them she didn't feel like she was. She said she was simply continuing her work and helping5 her neighbors endure a very difficult reality.

As a clerk, she handles all the legal paperwork for civilian6 life — wills, marriage certificates. But during the occupation, she also was collecting names of qualified7 villagers who could receive Russian payments of 10,000 rubles, a little more than $160.

"I understand that we should have probably realized with our actions ... maybe by helping people, we were also helping the occupiers," she says.

She doesn't blame the SBU for questioning her. They were doing their job, she says. And, she points out, they let her go. She says they told her they didn't think she broke any laws.

But she doesn't understand why her neighbors — who she says she was trying to help — reported her as a collaborator4. She said they asked to be included in the Russian payments.

"From our village, there wasn't a single person who didn't take that money," she says. "But I understand. People had to survive. I don't blame anybody. But how am I guilty?"

As towns recover from occupation, residents perceive their neighbors differently

In recently liberated towns along the front lines of the war in Ukraine, authorities have been focused on reaching survivors8, documenting war crimes and beginning the process of rebuilding homes and buildings.

But another challenge that is emerging is how months of Russian occupation have ripped apart the social fabric9 of these towns and villages.

Neighbors no longer know whom they can trust. They don't know who was a collaborator.

Andriy Besedin, the acting10 mayor of Kupiansk, calls this a "huge problem."

His town was liberated on Sept. 9 as part of the large Ukrainian counteroffensive across the east and south. It's a strategically important location along the Oskil River, with a bridge and railway depot11.

The residents have been through tremendous turmoil12.

First, the Russians invaded the town just a few days after the war began in February. Officials say Russian forces held and tortured many residents.

During the occupation, people were simply trying to survive. As the months went by, resisting turned into adapting.

Now, after more than six months of occupation, the Russians are gone. Ukrainians are back in control. And residents, again, are having to adjust.

Besedin says some people feel betrayed by their neighbors and colleagues. Some of the smallest acts of cooperation with Russian occupiers are interpreted as signs of collaboration13.

Those convicted face up to 15 years in prison, based on new laws passed after the start of the war.

Schools and hospitals are slow to heal

Other residents blame themselves for not resisting the Russians enough, Besedin says.

"It will take time," he says. "People need to psychologically recharge. And we as a government need to provide them with the conditions so that they can understand that Ukraine cares for them."

He notes that the challenge is especially great in Ukrainian schools. Teachers who resisted the Russians are now refusing to work with colleagues who accepted contracts to teach under the Russian education system.

Some of the teachers who accepted Russian positions now say they were unaware14 of the potential consequences and felt they were simply helping the children.

Tatiana Shmyhyrska, the principal of the largest elementary school in the nearby village of Shevenchoke, acknowledges that there are different levels of cooperation, but says teachers who traveled to Russia for training — and began the school year under the Russian system — should not be allowed to teach Ukrainian children.

And she's uncomfortable that she's being asked by Ukrainian officials to collect information on possible collaborators.

"Why the situation is so disturbing is because there is a feeling that they are trying to push responsibility onto our shoulders," she says.

There are similar challenges at the Kupiansk hospital, where doctors were pressured to treat Russian soldiers.

Dr. Yevgeniy Sinko, the hospital's head of medicine, says he was held hostage and tortured by Russian forces after refusing to turn the hospital over to the Russians.

But he says some doctors did agree to treat Russian soldiers. He believes they should not be judged unfairly.

"According to the Geneva Convention, we have to treat them," he says. "We are doctors here."

Sitting at their kitchen table, Volodymyr and Svitlana Tsyba say they're ready to move on, but acknowledge they're more reserved with neighbors now than they were before the war.

"I just take it as another life situation," Svitlana says.

Volodymyr is less circumspect15. He insists he's not someone who keeps a grudge16. But, he says, he has a good memory.

"Now I know who I would go into battle with and who I wouldn't," he says. "Even amongst my friends."


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 transcript JgpzUp     
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 sipping e7d80fb5edc3b51045def1311858d0ae     
v.小口喝,呷,抿( sip的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • She sat in the sun, idly sipping a cool drink. 她坐在阳光下懒洋洋地抿着冷饮。
  • She sat there, sipping at her tea. 她坐在那儿抿着茶。
3 liberated YpRzMi     
a.无拘束的,放纵的
参考例句:
  • The city was liberated by the advancing army. 军队向前挺进,解放了那座城市。
  • The heat brings about a chemical reaction, and oxygen is liberated. 热量引起化学反应,释放出氧气。
4 collaborator gw3zSz     
n.合作者,协作者
参考例句:
  • I need a collaborator to help me. 我需要个人跟我合作,帮我的忙。
  • His collaborator, Hooke, was of a different opinion. 他的合作者霍克持有不同的看法。
5 helping 2rGzDc     
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
参考例句:
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
6 civilian uqbzl     
adj.平民的,民用的,民众的
参考例句:
  • There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
  • He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。
7 qualified DCPyj     
adj.合格的,有资格的,胜任的,有限制的
参考例句:
  • He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
  • We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。
8 survivors 02ddbdca4c6dba0b46d9d823ed2b4b62     
幸存者,残存者,生还者( survivor的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
  • survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者
9 fabric 3hezG     
n.织物,织品,布;构造,结构,组织
参考例句:
  • The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
  • I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。
10 acting czRzoc     
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的
参考例句:
  • Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她,她只是假装的。
  • During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代,她的表演生涯黯然失色。
11 depot Rwax2     
n.仓库,储藏处;公共汽车站;火车站
参考例句:
  • The depot is only a few blocks from here.公共汽车站离这儿只有几个街区。
  • They leased the building as a depot.他们租用这栋大楼作仓库。
12 turmoil CKJzj     
n.骚乱,混乱,动乱
参考例句:
  • His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
  • The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。
13 collaboration bW7yD     
n.合作,协作;勾结
参考例句:
  • The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
  • He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。
14 unaware Pl6w0     
a.不知道的,未意识到的
参考例句:
  • They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
  • I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。
15 circumspect 0qGzr     
adj.慎重的,谨慎的
参考例句:
  • She is very circumspect when dealing with strangers.她与陌生人打交道时十分谨慎。
  • He was very circumspect in his financial affairs.他对于自己的财务十分细心。
16 grudge hedzG     
n.不满,怨恨,妒嫉;vt.勉强给,不情愿做
参考例句:
  • I grudge paying so much for such inferior goods.我不愿花这么多钱买次品。
  • I do not grudge him his success.我不嫉妒他的成功。

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