VOA慢速英語:親俄反對(duì)派擊落幾架烏克蘭直升機(jī)

[00:00.00][04:49.47]更多聽力請(qǐng)?jiān)L問chinavoa.com [00:05.15]From VOA Learning English, [00:09.37]this is In The News. [00:11.20]Pro-Russian rebels shot down two Ukrainian helicopters [00:16.76]in eastern Ukraine on Friday. [00:19.86]Two airmen were killed. [00:22.14]Ukraine's Defense Ministry said a third helicopter was also hit. [00:28.49]In a statement, Ukraine's government reported [00:32.00]that missiles brought down the two helicopters. [00:35.75]It said the firing of missiles was evidence [00:39.90]that Russian forces were present in the city. [00:43.50]Russia denies its troops are on Ukrainian soil. [00:48.63]News of the attacks came as Ukrainian government forces [00:53.14]strengthened their positions [00:55.22]around the rebel-held city of Slovyansk. [00:59.53]Ukrainian military vehicles moved to neighborhoods just outside Slovyansk. [01:05.61]But rebels still controlled most of the city of 130,000 people. [01:11.70]Reporters there heard shooting [01:14.73]and saw one helicopter opening fire before sunrise. [01:19.91]Twelve hours later, the city was largely quiet [01:23.82]with armed separatists in control. [01:26.92]About 100 people gathered outside government buildings. [01:32.28]They appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin [01:35.85]to send troops to help them. [01:38.64]The Russian military has tens of thousands of troops across the border. [01:45.03]Russia had earlier claimed the right to invade [01:49.50]if needed to protect Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine. [01:54.71]On Friday, Russian officials accused the Ukrainian government [02:00.27]of launching a "criminal" assault that wrecked hopes of peace. [02:05.83]A spokesman for President Putin accused Ukrainian forces [02:11.32]of firing on civilians from the air [02:14.82]in what he called a "punitive operation." [02:19.02]President Putin demanded on Thursday that Ukraine [02:23.08]withdraw all military personnel [02:26.07]from territory along the Russian border. [02:29.52]He made the comment to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, [02:34.25]who was on her way to Washington. [02:37.39]On Friday, the German leader met [02:40.18]with President Barack Obama at the White House. [02:43.23]The two leaders expressed hope for a diplomatic resolution to the crisis. [02:49.10]The president warned of expanding sanctions on Mr. Putin [02:53.92]and others if Russia continued to fuel the unrest in Ukraine. [03:00.21]The European Union says it is watching events [03:03.97]in eastern Ukraine with growing concern. [03:07.66]But Ukraine is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. [03:13.43]And Western leaders have made clear that they will not defend Ukraine. [03:19.86]Separatists and Russian intervention are not the only threats to Ukraine. [03:26.61]Many Ukrainians think their country is in crisis. [03:31.17]A new study found that nearly 80 percent of those [03:36.26]questioned in eastern Ukraine think the government is unlawful. [03:41.73]Rakesh Sharma was the director of the survey. [03:45.78]"In Kharkiv and Donetsk, in those focus group, [03:49.38]what we heard were people saying primarily [03:52.98]that this government does not represent us, [03:55.05]we do not feel like our interests are being represented by this government, [03:58.84]and that there was a lot of dissatisfaction [04:00.91]with the direction of the country and the way it was headed." [04:04.21]A Washington-based pro-democracy group organized the survey. [04:08.87]The group receives most of its money from the United Nations [04:13.34]and the United States Agency for International Development. [04:18.58]Pro-Russian separatists are seeking a vote on May 11 [04:24.05]on whether to break with Ukraine's government. [04:27.84]Local officials in Crimea held a similar vote earlier this year. [04:33.74]Russia took control of the Crimean peninsula shortly after the vote. [04:39.71]And that's In The News, from VOA Learning English. [04:45.68]I'm Steve Ember.

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