VOA新闻杂志2022--Russia to Annex Parts of Eastern Ukraine

Russia to Annex¹ Parts of Eastern Ukraine

Russia plans to officially annex, or seize, parts of eastern Ukraine on Friday. Russian officials said the people of those areas had voted strongly in favor of the move. But Ukraine and Western officials have condemned² the Moscow-controlled votes as illegal, forced and dishonest.

Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday that four areas of Ukraine - Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia - will be added to Russia on Friday. The pro-Russia administrators⁴ of those areas will sign treaties to join Russia at a Kremlin ceremony with President Vladimir Putin.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced an emergency meeting with his security and military officials for Friday. He promised tough measures against the move and said it ended any chance of returning to peace talks. The votes "are worthless and do not change reality. The territorial⁵ integrity of Ukraine will be restored," he said.

In unusually strong language, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters Thursday in New York that Russia's annexation⁶ would violate the U.N. Charter and has "no legal value." He described the move as "a dangerous escalation⁷" and said it "must not be accepted."

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky, whose country currently holds the European Union presidency⁸, said, "It's absolutely unacceptable." He added that the EU rejects the one-sided annexation.

The result of the voting that ended Tuesday was not a surprise. Russian troops went door-to-door with election officials to collect ballots¹⁰. Ukrainian officials said they also gathered names of people who voted against annexation. The five days of voting produced unusually high numbers in favor of joining Russia.

Russian-supported administrations in the four areas claimed that 93 percent of the ballots cast in Zaporizhzhia supported annexation, as did 87 percent in Kherson, 98 percent in Luhansk and 99 percent in Donetsk.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock spoke³ on the issue at a conference in Berlin. "Under threats and sometimes even (at) gunpoint, people are being taken out of their homes or workplaces to vote in glass ballot⁹ boxes," she said.

"This is the opposite of free and fair elections," Baerbock said. "And this is the opposite of peace."

Russians leaving the country

Last week, Putin ordered a call-up of as many as 300,000 military reservists after several military losses in Ukraine. Putin and other Russian officials also threatened to use nuclear weapons to protect Russian territory, including any annexed¹¹ land.

The call-up order led to long lines of Russians at the borders trying to leave the country. Russian security reportedly set up checkpoints along the borders with Georgia and Finland to draft some of them.

Novaya Gazeta Europe reported on Monday that 261,000 men had left Russia since the call-up. "The better off and well educated are over-represented amongst those attempting to leave Russia," British intelligence officials said.

Alexander Kamisentsev, who left Russia for Georgia, said he decided¹² at the last moment to leave "because I am not going to kill my Ukrainian brothers or go to prison."

Words in This Story

integrity – n. the state of being a united whole

escalation – n. to increase in extent, volume, number, amount, intensity¹³, or scope

absolutely – adv. completely or totally

reservist – n. soldiers who are not serving in the regular army of a country, but who can be called to serve whenever they are needed.

draft – v. to order someone to serve in the armed forces

moment – n. a very brief time

1 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。

2 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 administrators   

n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师

参考例句：

• He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员，但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
• Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

5 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。

6 annexation   

n.吞并，合并

参考例句：

• He mentioned the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910 .他提及1910年日本对朝鲜的吞并。
• I regard the question of annexation as belonging exclusively to the United States and Texas.我认为合并的问题，完全属于德克萨斯和美国之间的事。

7 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

8 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

9 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

10 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 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。

12 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。

13 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。