[ti:Putin Calls Up Reservists after Losses in Ukraine] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]Russian President Vladimir Putin [00:02.76]ordered a call-up of military reservists on Wednesday [00:07.20]after recent military losses in Ukraine. [00:11.76]It is the first mobilization of reservists since the second world war. [00:17.72]The move quickly led to a sell-out of plane tickets [00:21.24]leaving the country and reportedly brought some demonstrations. [00:27.64]Russia has struggled to replace its troops in Ukraine. [00:31.40]The military has sought out volunteers [00:35.04]and even reportedly brought prisoners to join the war. [00:40.32]In his seven-minute televised speech to the nation, [00:43.96]Putin claimed, without evidence, that NATO countries [00:48.36]had threatened to use nuclear weapons against Russia. [00:53.04]And he said Russia "also has various means of destruction." [00:59.08]Putin added that he would use [01:01.04]all available means to protect the Russian people. [01:05.92]Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told a German newspaper [01:10.52]that he thought Putin would be unlikely to use nuclear weapons. [01:15.52]But he noted that Putin's threat [01:17.88]showed why it was important to stand up to him. [01:23.12]NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg [01:26.60]denounced Putin's threat to use nuclear weapons [01:30.20]as "dangerous and reckless." [01:32.72]At a speech to the United Nations Wednesday, [01:36.28]U.S. President Joe Biden called on all nations [01:40.16]to speak out against Russia's "brutal, needless war." [01:46.28]The total number of reservists to be called up [01:49.44]could be as high as 300,000, Russian officials said. [01:53.92]However, the order offered few details, [01:57.68]raising suspicions that the number could get larger. [02:03.56]Russian political expert Dmitry Oreshkin [02:06.84]said Putin's announcement felt like "an act of desperation." [02:11.48]He said the Russian people [02:13.40]will find ways to resist Putin's decision. [02:17.92]"People will evade this mobilization in every possible way, [02:22.36]bribe their way out of this mobilization, [02:25.08]leave the country," Oreshkin told the AP. [02:30.32]The Vesna youth democratic opposition movement [02:33.60]called for nationwide protests. [02:36.76]The group said, "Thousands of Russian men -- our fathers, [02:41.24]brothers and husbands -- will be thrown into the ... war. [02:45.44]What will they be dying for? [02:47.60]What will mothers and children be crying for?" [02:51.04]Russian activist group Avtozak [02:55.16]reported small demonstrations following Putin's speech [02:59.36]in several cities in Siberia and the Far East, with some arrests. [03:06.16]As protest calls spread online, Russian officials warned [03:10.36]that organizing or participating in such actions [03:13.92]could lead to up to 15 years in prison. [03:18.24]The Russian state agency overseeing communication and media, [03:22.92]also warned that websites would be blocked for publishing [03:26.88]what they called "false information" about the mobilization. [03:32.56]The partial mobilization order [03:34.76]came a day after Russian-controlled areas in eastern [03:39.20]and southern Ukraine announced plans to hold votes [03:43.52]on becoming parts of Russia. [03:46.52]The votes will start Friday in the Luhansk, Kherson [03:50.48]and partly Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk areas. [03:57.08]Russia already considers Luhansk and Donetsk [04:01.04]to be independent states. [04:03.68]The two areas together make up the Donbas [04:07.16]that Russia partially occupied in 2014. [04:11.96]Ukraine and the West consider all parts of Ukraine [04:16.16]held by Russian forces to be illegally occupied. [04:20.12]Russia now holds about 60 percent of Donetsk [04:24.64]and had captured nearly all of Luhansk [04:27.92]by July after months of fighting. [04:31.64]The voting is all but certain to go Russia's way. [04:35.44]And foreign leaders have described the votes as illegal. [04:41.64]The war in Ukraine has killed thousands of people, [04:45.24]driven up food prices worldwide [04:48.08]and caused energy costs to increase. [04:52.00]It has also brought fears of a possible disaster [04:55.72]at Europe's largest nuclear plant [04:58.72]in Ukraine's now Russia-occupied southeast. [05:04.08]Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu [05:07.28]said 5,937 Russian soldiers have died in the conflict. [05:14.48]That figure is far lower than Western estimates [05:17.92]of tens of thousands. [05:20.76]I'm Dan Novak. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM