THE BOLSHEVIKS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume VII, Issue 1956, 22 May 1920, Page 9

THE BOLSHEVIKS.

A SERIOUS MOVE. By Oable.—Prcti Aasooiation. — Copyright. (A. Sc N.Z.) LONDON, May 20. The Bolshevik capture of Enzeli is regarded as a most serious move, in view of the military helplessness of Persia, the new responsibilities of the British in the Middle East, and the risks as regards India. It is assumed that the Bolsheviks first aimed at the seizure of General Denikin's volunteer Jleet interned at Enzeli, but doubtless the ultimate purpose was the occupation of Teheran. The situation is aggravated by the unreliability of Persia's Cossack division, of which 5000 are reported to openly sympathise with Bolshevism. It is feared that the whole division will join the Reds. The "Daily Mail" estimates the British troops at Enzeli at between •100 and 500. A handful remain at Tabriz, and their fate, like the fate of those captured at Baku, is unknown. The whole situation involves a serious menace to the national prestige throughout the Middle East, and endangers vitally important oil interests in Persia. FOLES IN RETREAT. (A. & N.Z.) LONDON, May 20. A wireless Bolshevik communique says: We started a general advance in'the Pololsk-Lepel region on May 14, on a 50-mile front, and penetrated to the Polotsk-Molodetcheno railway; also northward of Lcpel. We took a large number of prisoners. A Moscow wireless claim's that the Reds occupied Disnalepol, forced the river Berezina on a sector of 20 miles, and captured colossal food and military supplies in the region of Polotsk-Molodetcheno. The Poles continue to retreat, and at several points are showing panic.