At Ukraine-Belarus border, Ukrainians are pretty calm despite Russian troop buildup

At Ukraine-Belarus border, Ukrainians are pretty calm despite Russian troop buildup

Transcript¹

Russia is conducting military exercises in Belarus but most Ukrainians living along the border say it's nothing to worry about.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

And I'm Rachel Martin in Kyiv, where our team has been reporting for the last week, trying to understand how Ukrainians are living through the current threat from Russia. There are now at least 120,000 Russian troops along Ukraine's borders. The Biden administration says it's ready to deploy² more than 10,000 forces to Eastern Europe to help defend against a potential Russian incursion into Ukraine, which, we should say, is a big country. It's the size of New Mexico and Nevada combined and then some. So in order to get a fuller understanding of how people here feel about all this, you need to get on the road.

It's early morning in Kyiv. The sun hasn't come up quite yet. And we are getting ready to head north. We're going to drive about three hours or so up near the border with Belarus. This is where Russian troops have gathered on the Belarussian side. So we're going to go up there, talk to people who live around there and see how they're feeling about everything.

Our destination is the border crossing called Novi Yarylovychi.

So we're headed north on the highway outside of Kyiv. And we just happened upon this convoy⁴ of what appears to be military vehicles. There's a police escort⁵. And we've passed - it looks to be at least seven or eight of these big trucks. Some of them are armored, driven by young men in uniform.

They're moving north, too, towards Belarus, where Russia has deployed⁶ battle tanks, surface-to-air missile systems, not to mention tens of thousands of Russian troops. About halfway⁷ through our journey, we pull over at a roadside convenience store.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: You can say, (non-English language spoken).

MARTIN: (Non-English language spoken).

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Non-English language spoken).

MARTIN: (Non-English language spoken).

Inside, we find a woman named Natalia (ph). Like most of the people we talked to, she only wanted us to use her first name, so she could speak openly. She says coffee is her bestseller here. But fresh pastries⁸ have just been delivered. And we see displayed on the side shelf a variety of dried fish snacks.

NATALIA: (Non-English language spoken).

MARTIN: She says she only gets about 20 customers a day in the winter. But the nature of the traffic has changed.

NATALIA: (Non-English language spoken).

MARTIN: I asked her about the increased presence of Russian troops so nearby.

NATALIA: (Non-English language spoken).

MARTIN: "I'm worried," she says. "I've got four kids. I'm worried about their future." But when we talk further, it's clear that Natalia's more urgent concerns or practical. COVID lockdowns have kept her kids out of school. Wages are low. And she's a single mom trying to make ends meet as a clerk in this store. A few miles up the road, we hit a security checkpoint.

All right. So we're coming up on some kind of road check, security check.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: (Non-English language spoken).

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: (Non-English language spoken).

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: (Non-English language spoken).

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: (Non-English language spoken).

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: (Non-English language spoken).

MARTIN: That all seemed to go just fine. Now we go. All right. We're just a couple of miles now from the border with Belarus. So we took a left off of the highway. And we're driving down this very snowy road. It's beautiful, actually. We're in a pine forest. And it's really quiet. And we're going to see if we can talk to some of the people who live here right near the border.

We come upon the village of Stari Yarylovychi (ph). Village is generous because this is really just a dozen houses or so. Many of them are abandoned. We stop at a house with blue-and-white-painted shutters⁹ and plants in the window.

Hello.

VERA: (Non-English language spoken).

MARTIN: An older woman named Vera (ph) comes to the gate.

UNIDENTIFIED INTERPRETER: (Non-English language spoken) Rachel.

VERA: Vera.

MARTIN: Vera?

UNIDENTIFIED INTERPRETER: Vera.

VERA: Vera, (non-English language spoken).

MARTIN: She's wearing a purple sweater with a small hole on the shoulder. She's got matching purple streaks¹⁰ in her hair. And a couple very prominent gold teeth appear when she smiles.

VERA: (Non-English language spoken).

MARTIN: She tells us she hears military planes overhead. But she's so close to the border, that's pretty normal.

VERA: (Non-English language spoken).

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: (Non-English language spoken).

MARTIN: Her husband then appears in this camouflage¹¹ jacket...

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: (Non-English language spoken).

VERA: (Non-English language spoken).

MARTIN: ...Not trusting who we are. And he asks for our IDs.

UNIDENTIFIED INTERPRETER: (Non-English language spoken).

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: (Non-English language spoken).

MARTIN: He's clearly not interested in talking. And our conversation with Vera comes to an abrupt¹² end.

(CROSSTALK)

MARTIN: The next village over, we meet a man with green mittens¹³ and a toothless grin¹⁴ walking down the road. He tells us he's heading back to his job at the gas station on the corner after visiting with his ex-wife. I didn't ask for details.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #6: (Non-English language spoken).

MARTIN: He thinks Vladimir Putin has already gotten enough of Ukraine. He took Crimea and Donetsk and Luhansk. And he won't take anymore. But he says, I'm just a regular guy. And he shrugs¹⁵ his shoulders and heads back down the road. Military analysts¹⁶ in the U.S. say if Russia were to advance further into Ukraine, it's very likely to happen through Belarus. But it's almost like the closer we get to the border, the less likely people are to see the buildup as an existential threat. It's almost too close. To acknowledge¹⁷ it would be just too unsettling. We keep going down the road. We pass a statue of a soldier, a memorial to World War II that you see in a lot of villages around here. And then we spot a fit-looking man wearing an old-style Russian fur hat. His name is Leonid (ph).

LEONID: (Non-English language spoken).

MARTIN: He remembers back in 2014. It was stressful. People cleaned out the shelves at grocery stores, he tells me, snatching¹⁸ up essentials in case the conflict spread north. He doesn't fear war in the same way now. But the threat alone is harmful. He says Putin doesn't have to go to war to destabilize Ukraine. Just having troops on the border, making the threat, has been enough.

(SOUNDBITE OF VEHICLE WHIRRING)

MARTIN: OK. So we're standing³ at the border. To my right, south, is Ukraine. To my left, north, is Belarus. And we're in the in-between.

A young guy shows up to check out our IDs and sign paperwork. At first, we think it's a press officer here to escort us to his boss. Turns out he is the boss, 24-year-old Chief Lieutenant¹⁹ Vladislav Horbin (ph). He won't tell us how many border patrol²⁰ officers are here or whether any other military units have been deployed in the area.

VLADISLAV HORBIN: This is secret information.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #7: OK.

HORBIN: OK.

MARTIN: Oh, secret information. Right.

But he does say the Ukrainian footprint here has increased in recent weeks. I asked him if he's seen evidence of the Russian troop buildup on the other side of the border. He says, no. But people who are crossing from Belarus talk about seeing unidentified military convoys²¹.

HORBIN: (Non-English language spoken).

MARTIN: Does he discuss this with his friends, his colleagues, I ask him, this potential Russian threat that is so close? No, he says. We talk about vacations and girls.

Does your mom worry about you here?

HORBIN: (Non-English language spoken).

MARTIN: "Yes, everyone is worrying for their children," he tells me. "It's our country. We need to defend our country." We're standing outside, and it's cold. He's a serious guy. And it seemed like he was ready to be done with us. So it was sort of surprising when he asked us to come inside the border tower to his office for tea.

UNIDENTIFIED INTERPRETER: So if you're finished, he want to propose you tea or coffee.

MARTIN: Yes. That would be great.

UNIDENTIFIED INTERPRETER: OK. OK.

MARTIN: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED INTERPRETER: Come with me (laughter).

MARTIN: OK.

Which is where we discovered that a Russian incursion into Ukraine isn't just hypothetical to Lieutenant Horbin.

(SOUNDBITE OF FEET THUMPING)

MARTIN: Hey.

HORBIN: Not bad, eh?

MARTIN: It's not bad, not bad.

He's from Luhansk. And he was 16 years old when Russian-backed separatists took control of the region in 2014.

HORBIN: (Non-English language spoken).

MARTIN: He was going to a special military high school a couple hours from his hometown. But because of the war, his school sent everyone home. And his education was delayed by a year. Now this 24-year-old, with a worried mother back home, is in charge of one of the most important borders in Ukraine, a new possible front line if an attack from Russia materializes. He tells me this moment is different from 2014 in one big way. Now, he says, Ukraine is stronger.

HORBIN: (Non-English language spoken).

MARTIN: As we get ready to leave, I notice a book laying in the middle of his office desk. It's in Ukrainian. I can't read the title. I ask if it's a novel, something to pass the time during quiet shifts. No, he says, it's a book of military strategy.

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 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

3 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

4 convoy   

vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队

参考例句：

• The convoy was snowed up on the main road.护送队被大雪困在干路上了。
• Warships will accompany the convoy across the Atlantic.战舰将护送该船队过大西洋。

5 escort   

n.护卫者，护送者；vt.护送，护卫

参考例句：

• The prisoner was taken under escort to the jail.罪犯被押送到监狱。
• Her escort to the party was a tall young man.陪同她参加晚会的是一位高个子男青年。

6 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

7 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

8 pastries   

n.面粉制的糕点

参考例句：

• He gave a dry laugh, then sat down and started on the pastries. 杜新箨说着干笑一声，坐下去就吃点心。 来自子夜部分
• Mike: So many! I like Xijiang raisins, beef jerky, and local pastries. 麦克：太多了。我最喜欢吃新疆葡萄干、牛肉干和风味点心。

9 shutters   

百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 )； （照相机的）快门

参考例句：

• The shop-front is fitted with rolling shutters. 那商店的店门装有卷门。
• The shutters thumped the wall in the wind. 在风中百叶窗砰砰地碰在墙上。

10 streaks   

n.（与周围有所不同的）条纹( streak的名词复数 )；（通常指不好的）特征（倾向）；（不断经历成功或失败的）一段时期v.快速移动( streak的第三人称单数 )；使布满条纹

参考例句：

• streaks of grey in her hair 她头上的绺绺白发
• Bacon has streaks of fat and streaks of lean. 咸肉中有几层肥的和几层瘦的。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

11 camouflage   

n./v.掩饰，伪装

参考例句：

• The white fur of the polar bear is a natural camouflage.北极熊身上的白色的浓密软毛是一种天然的伪装。
• The animal's markings provide effective camouflage.这种动物身上的斑纹是很有效的伪装。

12 abrupt   

adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的

参考例句：

• The river takes an abrupt bend to the west.这河突然向西转弯。
• His abrupt reply hurt our feelings.他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。

13 mittens   

不分指手套

参考例句：

• Cotton mittens will prevent the baby from scratching his own face. 棉的连指手套使婴儿不会抓伤自己的脸。
• I'd fisted my hands inside their mittens to keep the fingers warm. 我在手套中握拳头来保暖手指。

14 grin   

n./vi.露齿而笑，咧嘴一笑

参考例句：

• I know she is joking because she has a big grin on her face.我知道她是在开玩笑。因为她满脸笑容。
• She came out of his office with a big grin on her face.她笑容满面地走出他的办公室。

15 shrugs   

n.耸肩（以表示冷淡，怀疑等）( shrug的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany shrugs off this criticism. 匈牙利总理久尔恰尼对这个批评不以为然。 来自互联网
• She shrugs expressively and takes a sip of her latte. 她表达地耸肩而且拿她的拿铁的啜饮。 来自互联网

16 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

17 acknowledge   

vt.承认...的权威，告知，收到，报偿

参考例句：

• With so much evidence against him he had to acknowledge his error.在这么多的证据面前，他不得不承认错误。
• It is ungracious of me not to acknowledge your help.你大力帮助而我尚未表示谢意，十分失礼。

18 snatching   

突然伸手拿取，攫取，抓住( snatch的现在分词 )； 抓紧时间做； 乘机获得； 夺去

参考例句：

• Winston could not help snatching another sidelong glance at Martin's Mongolian face. 温斯顿忍不住要偷看一眼马丁的蒙古人种的脸。 来自英汉文学
• At the sound she leaped to her feet, snatching up her bonnet. 她一听这笑声便跳起来，抓起她的帽子。

19 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

20 patrol   

v.巡逻，巡查；n.巡逻，巡查，巡逻队

参考例句：

• They attacked two soldiers on patrol.他们袭击了两名正在巡逻的士兵。
• Policemen patrol the streets.警察在街上巡逻。

21 convoys   

n.（有护航的）船队( convoy的名词复数 )；车队；护航（队）；护送队

参考例句：

• Truck convoys often stop over for lunch here. 车队经常在这里停下来吃午饭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A UN official said aid programs will be suspended until there's adequate protection for relief convoys. 一名联合国官员说将会暂停援助项目，直到援助车队能够得到充分的保护为止。 来自辞典例句