每日英語跟讀 Ep.K458: Troops at Front Offering Tanks For Launchers

The Ukrainian sergeant slid the captured Russian rocket launcher into the center of a small room. He was pleased. The weapon was practically brand-new. It had been built in 2020, and its thermobaric warhead was deadly against troops and armored vehicles.

這名烏克蘭士官讓這具繳獲的俄羅斯火箭發射器滑進一個小房間中央。他很開心。這武器幾乎全新，在2020年製造，它的溫壓彈頭對軍隊跟裝甲車都是致命的。

But the sergeant, nicknamed Zmei, had no plans to fire it at advancing Russian soldiers or at a tank trying to burst through his unit’s front line in eastern Ukraine.

但這位綽號「茲梅」的士官，並不打算用它向前進的俄羅斯軍人開火，或向一輛試圖突破他所屬部隊在烏克蘭東部防線的戰車開火。

Instead, he was going to use it as a bargaining chip.

相反地，他打算用它當作討價還價的籌碼。

Within the 93rd Mechanized Brigade, Zmei was not just a lowly sergeant. He was the brigade’s point man for a wartime bartering system among Ukrainian forces. Prevalent along the front line, the exchange operates like a kind of shadow economy, soldiers say, in which units acquire weapons or equipment and trade them for supplies they need urgently.

在第93機械化旅，茲梅不只是一名階級低微的士官。他是該旅在烏克蘭軍隊間建立戰時以物易物系統的關鍵人物。軍人說，這種交易在前線普遍存在，就像一種地下經濟，各單位繳獲武器或裝備，然後用它們交換急需的物資。

Most of the bartering involves items captured from Russian troops. Ukrainian soldiers refer to them as “trophies.”

大多數以物易物的交換涉及從俄軍繳獲的物品。烏軍稱它們為「戰利品」。

“Usually, the trades are done really fast,” Zmei said last week during an interview in Ukraine’s mineral-rich Donbas region, where the 93rd is now stationed. “Let’s just call it a simplification of bureaucracy.”

茲梅上星期在烏克蘭礦產資源豐富的頓巴斯地區受訪時說：「通常交易很快就會完成。我們姑且稱之為官僚主義的簡化吧。」第93旅目前駐紮在當地。

Despite the influx of Western weapons and equipment in recent months, the Ukrainian military still relies heavily on arms and vehicles captured from their better-equipped Russian foe for the matériel needed to wage war; much of Ukraine’s aging Soviet-era arsenal is either destroyed, worn down or lacks ammunition.

儘管西方武器和裝備近幾個月大量湧入，但烏克蘭軍方仍極度仰賴從裝備更好的俄羅斯敵人繳獲的武器與車輛，來獲得戰爭所需物資。烏克蘭老舊的蘇聯時代軍備許多已被摧毀、用壞，或是缺乏彈藥。

That has left Ukrainian soldiers scrounging the battlefield for essentials as their own supply lines are strained. And the relatively small numbers of big-ticket foreign weapons, such as the U.S.-made M777 howitzer, are spread thinly on the sprawling 1,500-mile front.

這導致烏軍在戰場上四處尋找軍需品，因為他們的補給線已經吃緊。數量相對較少的高價外國武器，如美國製造的M777榴彈砲，則稀疏分散在綿延1500英里的戰線上。

“We have hopes for Kyiv,” said Fedir, one of the brigade’s supply sergeants and an understudy of Zmei, referring to military commanders in the capital. “But we rely on ourselves. We aren’t trying to just sit and wait like idiots until Kyiv sends us something.”

該旅補給士之一、茲梅的替補費德談到首都的軍事指揮官：「我們對基輔抱有希望，但我們要靠自己。我們不會像傻瓜一樣坐等基輔送東西給我們。」

The 93rd currently only possesses old Soviet-era artillery pieces that have worn out barrels and are low on ammunition.

第93旅目前只有蘇聯時代的舊火砲，砲管已經磨損，彈藥也不夠。

“I have to go and buy everything and trade things, and bring it all here,”a 28-year-old Ukrainian soldier who goes by the name of Michael said.

一個名叫麥可的28歲烏軍說：「我必須去買東西，交換東西，然後把東西都帶到這裡。」

“So what’s going on is a personal initiative,” he said. “You’re taking the risk, it’s criminal. Nobody will thank you. It’s a thankless job.”

他說道：「所以，目前情況是個人行動。你在冒險，這是犯罪。沒人會感謝你。這是吃力不討好的工作。」Source article: https://udn.com/news/story/6904/6618643