Russia has sharply increased the number of troops and vehicles positioned on the eastern border of Ukraine in the past few days, raising fears of an invasion to stop the Ukrainian army’s recent advances against pro-Russian separatists.
过去几天俄罗斯大幅增加了在乌克兰东部边境的驻军及各种军用车辆的数量，这引发了人们对俄罗斯为压制乌克兰军队近期对亲俄分裂分子的进军势头而入侵乌克兰的担忧。Moscow has around 20,000 troops deployed in battle-ready formations on the border, according to senior Nato military officers – significantly more than the 15,000 US officials said were deployed there last week.
根据北约(Nato)高级军事官员的说法，俄罗斯政府在俄乌边境部署了2万处于战备状态的驻军，大大高于上周部署的逾1.5万人——这一数字是美国官员透露的。
While the number is still well below the 40,000 Russian troops deployed near Ukraine in April, the sharp rise in just a few days has been a cause for significant concern among Western military powers.
尽管这一数字仍大大低于今年4月在乌克兰附近部署的4万俄军，但驻军人数在短短几天内剧增还是在西方军事强国中引发了极大担忧。
According to US officials, the Russian troop deployments are also now much closer to the Ukrainian border – all within 50km – than in previous instances.
根据美国官员的说法，这些俄罗斯军队目前全部在距乌克兰边境50公里以内，比此前距边境的距离大大缩近。The battalions that have been deployed are predominantly those which have been at the forefront of a sweeping modernisation programme undertaken by Russia’s military in recent years and are among the best equipped and trained in the Russian army.
这些驻军中的大多率先通过了俄罗斯军方最近几年实施的全面现代化计划，属于俄罗斯军队中装备最精良，训练最好的部队。Those present include elite spetsnaz forces, armoured brigades and artillery and anti-aircraft units.
这些部队中包括精锐的“阿尔法小组”(spetsnaz)特种部队、装甲旅、以及炮兵和防空部队。The troops are spread along the length of the border with Ukraine. As with previous Russian deployments along the border, the Kremlin has been careful to ensure that no single out-of-base concentration exceeds a limit of 9,000 stipulated under the Budapest Memorandum of 1994 and the Nato-Russia founding act on mutual relations of 1997.
这些部队沿着漫长的俄乌边境排开。和此前俄罗斯沿俄乌边境的驻军一样，俄罗斯政府对兵力做了十分小心的部署，确保没有一个基地外的集结点人数会超过9000人。这一人数限制来自1994年签署的《布达佩斯安全保障备忘录》(Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances)，以及1997年俄罗斯与北约就双方关系签署的《北约-俄罗斯基本文件》(NATO-Russia Founding Act)。Ukraine on Tuesday called upon Russia to halt its build-up of forces along its border as fears mounted that Moscow could invade to prevent the advancing army of its southern neighbour from finishing off pro-Russian separatists increasingly encircled and bunkered down in eastern Ukraine’s largest cities ahead of a final showdown.
周二，在对俄罗斯入侵的担忧日益增强之际，乌克兰呼吁俄罗斯停止在边境增兵的行为。目前，亲俄分裂分子日益陷入重围，困在乌克兰东部几个最大城市，等待着最后摊牌。乌克兰方面担心，为阻止乌克兰军队进军扫清亲俄分裂分子，俄罗斯可能会入侵乌克兰。“Ukraine considers the conducting of such unprecedented military exercises on the border with Ukraine as a provocation,” said Col. Andriy Lysenko, a Ukrainian army spokesperson.
乌克兰军方发言人安德里•李森科上校(Col. Andriy Lysenko)表示：“乌克兰把在乌克兰边境这类史无前例的军事演习视为一种挑衅。”Russian officials have for weeks hinted at the need for peacekeepers in eastern Ukraine to halt bloodshed among the civilian population but which Kiev regards as a pretext for direct Russian intervention in the conflict.
几周来，俄罗斯官方一直在暗示有必要向乌克兰东部派遣维和部队，以阻止平民间的杀戮。不过，乌克兰政府将这一提议视为俄罗斯直接干预乌克兰冲突的借口。Accused by Kiev and the West of funnelling rebels and heavy arms to the separatist militants, Russia has explained the border military build-up as training exercises.
对于在俄乌边境的增兵行为，俄罗斯辩称这只是出于演练。目前，乌克兰政府和西方还曾指责俄罗斯向分裂分子的武装力量输送反叛人员和重型武器。Kiev claims there are some 15,000 separatist militants in the east of Ukraine which it says are being supplied with heavy arms by Moscow, including the Buk surface-to-air missile the US and EU allege was used to shoot down a Malaysia passenger airliner last month, killing all 298 on board.
联合国(UN)难民署周二表示，乌克兰境内有11.7万人流离失所。Kiev has also repeatedly accused Moscow’s forces stationed at the border of firing artillery and surface-to-surface missiles at local troops from Russian territory to bolster the separatists’ hand in battles that have been raging since April.
就在周二，俄罗斯也曾呼吁联合国安理会(UN Security Council)就乌克兰的人道主义局面召开紧急会议。Such attacks and fears that Russia could entertain a full-blown military incursion have increased in past weeks as Ukraine’s military has made gains in its military campaign against the rebels.
在乌克兰东部城市，数百名平民在炮火中丧生。对此，乌克兰政府和分裂分子武装都指责对方发动了炮火袭击。