俄羅斯國家電視臺主持人奧爾加•斯嘉碧娃(Olga Skabeeva)周二晚間在結(jié)束她的節(jié)目“60分鐘”(60 Minutes)時(shí),做出了簡短但有力的結(jié)論:“我們不害怕制裁,我們有導(dǎo)彈。”
Her words seemed to encapsulate Moscow’s outrage and defiance in the face of British moves to punish it for the poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal with a rare nerve agent of a type that only the Soviet Union was known to have made.
她的言論似乎概括了俄羅斯面對英國對其采取懲罰措施的憤怒和反抗,英國懲罰俄羅斯的原因是,俄羅斯用一種已知只有前蘇聯(lián)制造過的罕見神經(jīng)毒劑,向俄羅斯前雙面間諜謝爾蓋•斯克里帕爾(Sergei Skripal)下毒。
Russian government officials, lawmakers and analysts are all painting the British government’s charge as an insult, a threat and proof that Russia must stand strong and united against a hostile western world bent on destroying it.
俄羅斯政府官員、立法者和分析人士都稱英國政府的這番指控為侮辱、威脅,而且證明面對心懷敵意、決意毀滅俄羅斯的西方世界,俄羅斯必須堅(jiān)強(qiáng)和團(tuán)結(jié)。
Coming just days ahead of presidential elections on Sunday expected to confirm Vladimir Putin in office by a landslide, the stand-off with the UK is being used by the government and official media to boost support for an aggressive course of Russian great power ambitions and nuclear posturing.
距離本周日俄羅斯總統(tǒng)選舉還有兩天時(shí)間,預(yù)計(jì)選舉將以壓倒性票數(shù)確認(rèn)弗拉基米爾•普京(Vladimir Putin)的繼續(xù)執(zhí)政。俄羅斯政府和官方媒體正利用俄羅斯與英國的這場僵局,擴(kuò)大民眾對俄羅斯大國抱負(fù)強(qiáng)硬路線以及核姿態(tài)的支持。
Two weeks ago, Mr Putin claimed in his state of the nation address that Russia had developed several new weapons systems capable of carrying nuclear payloads that he characterised as invincible. His move disappointed many Russians who had hoped that he would put a focus on economic reform for his next term, and shocked many foreign observers who view his nuclear posturing as a sign for a new arms race with the US.
兩周前,普京在他的國情咨文中聲稱,俄羅斯已開發(fā)出幾個(gè)新的能夠搭載核彈頭的武器系統(tǒng),他稱這些武器無敵。他的行為讓很多原本希望他將在下個(gè)任期關(guān)注經(jīng)濟(jì)改革的俄羅斯人失望,同時(shí)也震驚了很多外國觀察人士,他們認(rèn)為他的這種核姿態(tài)表明俄羅斯將與美國開展新的軍備競賽。
But with their country once again thrust into a confrontation with the west, few Russians dare to question Mr Putin’s belligerent rhetoric.
然而在俄羅斯再次與西方展開對峙時(shí),幾乎沒有俄羅斯人膽敢質(zhì)疑普京的好斗言論。
This week, Maria Zakharova, the punchy foreign ministry spokeswoman, insinuated that Mrs May’s ultimatum to Moscow to explain the poison attack constituted a military, or even nuclear, threat, against which Mr Putin’s new wonder weapons offered protection.
本周,俄羅斯外交部言辭犀利的女發(fā)言人瑪麗亞•扎哈羅娃(Maria Zakharova)暗示,英國首相向俄羅斯發(fā)出的要求俄羅斯就下毒襲擊事件做出解釋的最后通牒構(gòu)成了一種軍事甚至核威脅,而普京宣布的新的神奇武器可以為俄羅斯提供保護(hù)。
“Everyone must understand that after what the president spoke about, nobody can come out in parliament and say: I give Russia 24 hours,” she said. “We are talking about London, the capital of a nuclear power. Whom are they giving 24 hours?”
“在普京總統(tǒng)的演講后,所有人都必須明白,(英國)議會中沒人能說:我給俄羅斯24小時(shí),”她說,“我們說的是倫敦,核能之都。他們在給誰24小時(shí)呢?”
Many ordinary Russians share the indignation. “This is why we support our president,” said Anton Zaitsev, a security guard in his 30s in Moscow. “He has his weaknesses, but he is right in taking our country’s security seriously. Now they are trying to add more sanctions against Russia, again. They have no right to do that. Great Britain, who are you anyway?”
很多俄羅斯普通人也感到憤慨。“這就是我們支持我們的總統(tǒng)的原因,”莫斯科30多歲的保安安東•扎伊采夫(Anton Zaitsev)表示,“他有缺點(diǎn),但他認(rèn)真對待我們國家的安全問題,這是正確的。如今,他們試圖再次擴(kuò)大針對俄羅斯的制裁。他們沒有權(quán)利這么做。大不列顛,你又是誰啊?”
Valentina, a retired secretary who refused to give her surname, said it was western countries that were warmongers, and Russia needed to protect herself from them. “We are a peace-loving nation. Nobody has suffered from war as we have. We, my generation, we used to say: If only there isn’t war again!” she said. “That’s what our nuclear weapons are for, to ensure that nobody attacks us ever again.”
拒絕透露姓氏的退休秘書瓦倫蒂娜(Valentina)說,西方國家才是戰(zhàn)爭販子,俄羅斯需要保護(hù)自己不受侵犯。“我們是一個(gè)熱愛和平的國家。沒有人像我們這樣受過戰(zhàn)爭之苦。我們,我這一代人,過去常常說:要是不再有戰(zhàn)爭就好了!”她說,“這就是我們的核武器的目的,要確保再沒有人攻擊我們。”
War has traditionally featured among Russians’ biggest fears. The Soviet Union suffered more than 20m casualties in the second world war, inflicting losses on almost every family. Soviet propaganda exploited the memories of the war’s horrors to quell dissatisfaction over a stagnant economy.
戰(zhàn)爭歷來是俄羅斯人最恐懼的事之一。在二戰(zhàn)中,蘇聯(lián)傷亡人數(shù)超過2000萬,幾乎每個(gè)家庭都遭受了損失。蘇聯(lián)的宣傳機(jī)構(gòu)曾利用人們對戰(zhàn)爭的恐怖記憶來平息對經(jīng)濟(jì)停滯的不滿。
A deep-rooted anxiety was reawakened following Moscow’s invasion of Crimea, its involvement in the war in eastern Ukraine, and from late 2015 its military campaign in Syria. Russian sociologists say the public felt that in those conflicts, their country was in an undeclared confrontation with the west and, more specifically, with the US.
俄羅斯入侵克里米亞、參與烏克蘭東部戰(zhàn)爭、以及從2015年底在敘利亞進(jìn)行的軍事行動,喚醒了人們深埋心底的憂慮。俄羅斯社會學(xué)家表示,公眾感到,在這些沖突中,他們的國家與西方——更確切地說,與美國——處于未公開宣戰(zhàn)的對抗之中。
In the last poll Levada, the country’s only independent pollster, conducted on the topic in September last year, one-fifth of respondents still said they felt constant fear of a new world war.
在俄羅斯僅有的獨(dú)立民調(diào)機(jī)構(gòu)列瓦達(dá)(Levada)去年9月就該話題進(jìn)行的民意調(diào)查中,五分之一的受訪者仍然表示,他們始終對新的世界大戰(zhàn)感覺恐懼。
Some Russian analysts say those fears had in recent months begun to recede.
俄羅斯一些分析人士表示,近幾個(gè)月來,這些擔(dān)憂開始逐漸消散。
“After Russia liberated Aleppo, and after the turn in the Syrian war and as Isis started collapsing under Russian strikes, we noticed a lowering of war fears,” says Valery Fedorov, director of the Russian Public Opinion Research Foundation (VCIOM), a leading pollster that works with the Kremlin. “Now, Russians are turning the focus of their attention from external to internal issues, on to economic and social problems.”
“在俄羅斯解放阿勒頗后,在敘利亞戰(zhàn)爭局勢扭轉(zhuǎn)之后,以及當(dāng)‘伊拉克和黎凡特伊斯蘭國’(ISIS)在俄羅斯打擊下開始潰敗時(shí),我們注意到人們對戰(zhàn)爭的恐懼在減弱,”為克里姆林宮工作的領(lǐng)先民調(diào)機(jī)構(gòu)全俄社會輿論研究中心(VCIOM)主任瓦列里•費(fèi)奧多羅夫(Valery Fedorov)表示,“現(xiàn)在,俄羅斯人正把注意力從外部問題轉(zhuǎn)向內(nèi)部問題,關(guān)注經(jīng)濟(jì)和社會問題。”
According to VCIOM, security and the military lagged far behind social and economic issues like healthcare, poverty and education in ordinary Russians’ views of the most important topics of Mr Putin’s state of the nation address earlier this month.
據(jù)全俄社會輿論研究中心表示,俄羅斯普通百姓認(rèn)為,在普京于本月初發(fā)表的國情咨文中最重要的話題中,國家安全和軍事問題的重要性遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)落后于醫(yī)療、貧困、教育等社會和經(jīng)濟(jì)問題。
And yet, feelings of patriotism and pride are easily rekindled. When asked in the VCIOM poll what they liked best about the speech, the part where Mr Putin boasted about new nuclear weapons topped the list.
不過,俄羅斯人的愛國主義和民族自豪感很容易被重新點(diǎn)燃。全俄社會輿論研究中心在民調(diào)中提問受訪者對于此次演講最喜歡的部分,結(jié)果普京吹噓新核武器的部分位列第一。
Many Russians confirm such conflicting feelings, saying that while they are tired of a state of constant mobilisation against the west, they feel that Russia must remain vigilant against attempts to weaken their nation.
很多俄羅斯人都證實(shí)了這種矛盾心情,他們稱盡管自己厭倦了不斷被動員反對西方的狀態(tài),但他們認(rèn)為俄羅斯必須對其他國家試圖削弱俄羅斯的企圖保持警覺。
“My daughter has friends who live in the UK and in America. We know that they are good people, and we know things are not all good here,” says Valentina. “But when we are being threatened, we must push back.”
“我女兒有朋友在英國和美國生活。我們知道他們是好人,我們知道這里也并非盡善盡美,”瓦倫蒂娜表示,“但當(dāng)我們受到威脅時(shí),我們必須反擊。”