39.Escaping the war(768)

Passage Thirty-Nine

Escaping the war

逃离战争

【1】In the morning gloom of the railway station at Chop, a border town in Ukraine, passengers queue for the train to Zahony, a 13-minute journey away in Hungary. From there one can travel to Budapest, and then the world.

在昏暗阴沉的早晨，乌克兰边境城镇乔普的火车站内，乘客们排着队走向开往匈牙利扎霍尼的火车，这趟旅程仅需13分钟。到了扎霍尼后，人们就能继续前往布达佩斯，之后就能满世界跑了。

【2】Outside the station a platoon of soldiers puff out their chests at a ceremony celebrating Ukraine’s Flag Day. But not all Ukrainian men are so eager to take up arms. Thousands have fled(escaped) abroad, though no one knows quite how many.

火车站外，一排士兵在昂首挺胸地庆祝乌克兰国旗日。但并非所有的乌克兰男性都渴望拿起武器战斗。数千男性逃到了国外，尽管无人知道确切的数字。

【3】In the queue of about 130 people, only 20 are male. Men aged 18-60 are not allowed to leave Ukraine unless they qualify for an exemption. Four of those waiting are young lads who look close to turning 18. To avoid the risk of mobilisation, they must leave before then. Of course, some men find ways to get out anyway, legally or illegally.

在火车站排队的近130人中，只有20名是男性。18—60周岁的男性除非符合豁免条件否则不允许出境。排队的人中有4位年轻小伙，看起来马上就要到18周岁了。为了避免被动员入伍，他们必须在18周岁前出境。当然，一些男性总能以合法或非法的方式跑出去。

【4】On August 11th President Volodymyr Zelensky announced he was sacking(firing) the heads of the country’s regional military recruitment centres, where officials were alleged to be selling travel permits for up to $10,000. “Bribery during war is treason,” Mr Zelensky railed.

8月11日，乌克兰总统泽连斯基宣布解除该国各地区征兵中心负责人的职务，这些负责人被指控出售高达1万美元的通行许可。泽连斯基怒称道：“在战争期间贿赂形同叛国。”

【5】In Uzhhorod, a town on the nearby Slovakian border, Oleksiy, aged 25, rues the fact that he did not flee with his cousin the day the Russians invaded. War is “legalised murder”, he says, “and I don’t want to be part of it.” He dithered for a couple of days, and by then it was too late to leave legally.

在靠近斯洛伐克边境的乌日霍罗德，25岁的奥莱克西万分后悔自己没有在俄罗斯入侵的第一天随自己的堂兄弟逃出国。战争就是“合法的谋杀”，他说道，“而我不想参与其中。”他犹豫了好几天。而到那时要想合法出国就为时已晚。

【6】Because students are exempt from mobilisation, he has enrolled in a second degree programme. But he will have to pay for his studies: only a first university degree is free in Ukraine.

因为学生能够免除兵役，他已经注册了第二学位课程。但是他将要自己付学费：在乌克兰，只有第一个学位是免费的。

【7】The number of draft-eligible men who have registered as students is “massive(vast)”, says Dmytro Tuzhansky, the director of the Institute for Central European Strategy, a think-tank based in Uzhhorod.

复合应征入伍条件但却注册入学的男性数量“极其庞大”，乌日霍罗德智库中欧战略研究所负责人德米特罗·图赞斯基说道。

【8】One way to avoid mobilisation, he says, is to register as the carer of a disabled family member—whether or not they actually need care. A marriage of convenience with a disabled person is another option. One scheme(project) has couples “separating”, with the man being given full custody of the children.

他表示，另一个避免动员的方式，就是登记成为残疾家庭成员的照料人，不管他们是否真的需要照料。与残疾人士结婚是另一个选择。还有一个选择就是夫妻“离异”，给予丈夫对孩子的完全监护权。

【9】Since the invasion, some 6,100 men have been caught at Ukraine’s border crossings trying to get out using counterfeit or fraudulently obtained(gained) permissions, says Lieutenant Colonel Olena Trachuk, spokeswoman of the Chop detachment of Ukraine’s State Border Service. But the number has fallen to a handful a week.

自俄罗斯入侵以来，大约6100个男性在乌克兰过境卡口因试图使用伪造或者以欺诈手段获取的许可出境而被抓，乌克兰国家边境局乔普分局的发言人奥利娜·特拉楚克中校讲道。不过被抓人数已经降至每周十几个人。

【10】The guards now focus on catching(capturing) Ukrainian men who try to slip out of the country elsewhere along the border, not at official crossings. Since the invasion began, they have nabbed some 13,600 people trying to do so.

目前，边境守卫把关注点放在抓捕从边境线非官方口岸溜出乌克兰的男性。自入侵以来，边防人员已经逮捕了约13600名试图这么做的人。

【11】But even so, Colonel Trachuk thinks that in the Chop sector, for every man who is caught, another gets across. A third of those apprehended are intercepted before they ever reach the border, at checkpoints or in bus and railway stations, because they lack a credible story. Locals, bus and railway workers keep a beady eye and rat out potential(underlying) draft-dodgers to border guards.

但即便如此，特拉楚克上校认为，在乔普范围内，每抓捕一个男子，就有另一个男子偷渡了出去。由于缺乏可信的缘由，被捕人群中有1/3的人在还未到达边境区域前，就在检查站或者客车站、火车站遭拦截。当地群众、客车站和火车站的工作人员都保持警惕，揪出那些潜在的逃避兵役者并交给边防人员。

【12】Oleksiy contemplated(considered) trekking across the border, but says the going rate for a guide was $5,000. He reckons(thinks) that the chances of success are too low to risk such a sum. Some instead try to plot(project) their own routes(lines) on their phones, says Colonel Trachuk, but get lost because remote border regions lack internet access.

奥莱克西考虑过徒步跨越边境，但是称向导费为5000美元。他认为成功的概率过低，不值得出这笔花费。一些人试图在手机上规划出自己的出逃线路，特拉楚克上校说道，但由于偏远的边境地区无法联网而迷失方向。

【13】To date, 19 have been found drowned in the Tisza river, which forms part of Ukraine’s border with Hungary and Romania.

到目前为止，乌克兰与匈牙利、罗马尼亚边境的提萨河内已发现19具溺亡尸体。

【14】Men caught trying to hike across the border can be fined, but not jailed. Those who help them risk prison. Using fraudulent documents is a criminal offence, but crossing the border illegally is not. If they succeed, neighbouring countries do not send them back.

试图徒步穿越边境的男性若被抓到，会面临罚款，但不会有牢狱之灾。但帮助他们的人则会有坐牢的风险。使用虚假文件属于刑事犯罪，但非法越境并不是。如果偷渡成功，邻国不会将其遣返。

【15】In the initial(original) period after the invasion most men trying to get across were driven by fear, says Colonel Trachuk. Now she reckons half are looking for work. But those trying to escape military service must live at risk of being apprehended by recruitment officers and press-ganged.

在入侵后的初期，大多数男性由于恐惧都试图逃离，特拉楚克上校说道。现在，她认为有一半往外跑的人是为了找工作。但那些试图逃避服役的人面临着遭征兵官逮捕并强制入伍的风险。

【16】At the beginning of the invasion Ivan, a 42-year-old musician in Uzhhorod, contemplated enlisting, but changed his mind when he saw coffins arriving. Now, he says, he is in constant fear of being called up: “I feel like I am hanging in the air.”

入侵开始时，住在乌日霍罗德的42岁音乐家伊万考虑过应征入伍，但在看到前线源源不断地运回棺材后改变了想法。如今，他表示自己一直活在应征入伍的恐惧里：“我觉得自己就是悬在半空中。”