VOA新闻杂志2022--水危机威胁乌克兰东部城市

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Water Crisis¹ Threatens East Ukrainian City

The eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk has a severe shortage² of water. Members of the city's shrinking population must fill water containers by hand at public wells throughout the city.

As guns and rockets fire, people go outside only long enough to get water at the pumps. The pumps have been the city's only water source for more than two months.

Fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces near the city in the Donetsk area has threatened access to important resources. Residents have been cut off from gas and water for months.

The water flows for now. But many fear that by winter, the city could face a humanitarian³ crisis once the pipes begin to freeze. Sloviansk sits just 12 kilometers from Russian-occupied territory.

"The water infrastructure⁴ was destroyed by the constant battles," said Lyubov Mahlii. The 76-year-old woman gathers 20 liters of water twice a day from a public tank near her apartment.

"It's a great risk for us, but what can we do?" she said.

Only a fifth of the city's pre-war population of 100,000 remains⁵. Heavy fighting continues only kilometers away as Russian forces continue their push to take over Donetsk, part of the industrial Donbas area.

Local officials believe the water situation will only get worse once the weather gets cold.

Locals fill their bottles with hand pumps or from plastic tanks at one of the five public wells. They then carry them home in bicycle baskets or wheeled carts.

Mahlii said she boils some water for at least 15 minutes to make sure it is safe to drink. The rest is used for bathing, washing clothes and dishes, watering plants and taking care of a lost dog.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued an evacuation order to all residents of the Donetsk region at the end of July. But, Mahlii has not made plans to flee.

"I don't want to leave," she said. "I will die here."

Another Sloviansk resident, 75-year-old Ninel Kyslovska, gathered water from a tank at a park on Sunday. She said the shortage had made her life much more difficult.

She blamed the local government for the lack of running water. She said Kramatorsk, just 10 kilometers to the south, still had running water in homes.

But that may be threatened once winter arrives, when the temperature drops to -20 degrees Celsius⁶, said Oleksandr Goncharenko. He is the head of Kramatorsk's military administration.

He said that places like Sloviansk and Kramatorsk — which also lack gas — had become "hostages⁷ of destroyed infrastructure."

Goncharenko said Kramatorsk will empty water from city pipes that run into unheated buildings to prevent them from freezing and bursting. He said he does not think gas would be returned before winter.

Ukrainian officials are still trying to persuade the remaining people in Donetsk to evacuate⁸. The war's front line threatens to move further west. And it will be very hard for people to live in the cold winters.

Officials in Kramatorsk plan to build more public wells to supply the remaining population. But Goncharenko warned the water may not be of good quality.

Mahlii has not made plans for what she will do once cold weather arrives. But after 47 years in her Sloviansk apartment, she will face whatever difficulty.

"We are surviving by any means," she said.

Words in This Story

access — n. the right or ability to approach, enter, or use

resident — n. a person who lives in a place

infrastructure — n. the system of public works of a country, state, or region

constant — adj. occurring continuously or following one after another

evacuate — v. to leave or cause to leave a place of danger

1 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

2 shortage   

n.缺少，缺乏，不足

参考例句：

• The city is suffering a desperate shortage of water.这个城市严重缺水。
• The heart of the problem is a shortage of funds.问题的关键是缺乏经费。

3 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。

4 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

7 hostages   

人质( hostage的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The hostages were tied up and blindfolded. 人质被捆绑起来并蒙上了眼睛。
• Fear was the hostages' constant companion. 人质一直都感到恐惧不安。

8 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。