RUSSIAN ADVANCE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 62, Issue 162, 22 April 1942, Page 4

RUSSIAN ADVANCE.

WIDELY-SEPARATED SECTORS. THE FINNS PUSHED BACK. ONE OF HEAVIEST ATTACKS. (Rec. 1.0 p.m.) LONDON, April 21. The Soviet Army is attacking some enemy lines which have remained unchanged during the winter and is now advancing in sectors as widely apart as Sebastopol and Finland, says the Kuibyshev correspondent of “The Times.” White-clad forces in the north, though harassed by low-flying aircraft, claim to have penetrated the Finnish lines and pushed back the enemy several miles. .Soviet artillery on the bleak hills outside Sebastopol have now cleared the snow and are pounding Avell-prepared positions where the German and Rumanian troops spent the winter. The German tendency to conserve their air resources, shown by reluctance to engage in combats, is paralleled by the recent tank warfare on the southern front, where the weather is is squally. Only small groups, ranging from three to 10 tanks, now take part in actions. It is not unreasonable to attribute this to the heavy losses the Germans have suffered in the south. Since the battle of Rostov the Russians claim that they have destroyed 125 tanks in a series of sectors in the south in the last two months. The Stockholm correspondent of ‘‘The Times” says that the Germans are now fighting alongside- the Finns on the Svir front between Lakes Ladoga and Onega. Their strength is not assessable at present. The Germans are believed to he awaiting the reopening of navigation in the Baltic for the transport to Finland of troops and material intended for the Svir and Karelian Isthmus. This transport was greatly disordered when the British surprise swoop was made against Lubeck and smashed a considerable concentration of shipping. The Germans are now fighting east of Karelia, probably with veterans from the autumn and winter campaign as no arrivals of considerable new units have yet been reported. Another Stockholm source states that according to Axis reports the Soviet Army is attacking heavily on the Smolensk front under cover of an artillery bombardment. It is admitted that German forces are floundering in swampy forest areas. According to Finnish soldiers the Russians in the north are launching the heaviest attacks of the war. The Berlin radio reports that the body of General Yemetrov, commander of the 33rd Soviet Army, was found among the dead on the Central frdiit.