RUSSIANS ATTACK

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 64, Issue 1, 12 October 1943, Page 3

RUSSIANS ATTACK

KEY POINTS ON WHOLE FRONT. GREAT BATTLE ON DNIEPER. THREAT TO ENEMY IN CRIMEA. (N.Z. Press Association— Copyright.) (Rec. 11.55 a.m.) LONDON, Oct. 11. The Russians are attacking key points in the new German defence line from the Sea of Azov region to the northern front, where their spearheads are less than 80 miles from the Latvian border. One of the greatest battles in the Rus-sian-German war is being fought out on the Middle Dnieper, where the Russians are determinedly extending their bridgeheads. New crossings of the Dnieper appear likely to tear fresh gaps in the German lines. The Russians are threatening to cut off the Germans’ gains in the Crimea, which were won at heavy cost in the first nine months of the war. The Russians are also menacing Kiev and Gomel and the German positions around Vitebsk in the south.. The Germans in the Crimea are menaced by two Russian forces, one on the north side of the Sea of Azov and the other to the south. The Germans report fierce Russian attacks on the Nogaisk steppe, particularly between Melitopol and Zaporozhe, adding that the Russians are using at least 10 rifle divisions and a number of tank brigades. Moscow despatches say that the Russians on the Middle Dnieper are fanning out from bridgeheads and forming a continuous line along the west bank of the river. The Red Army’s task has been made easier at many points by. the withdrawal of German artillery to positions from which the river is b§yond range. The Associated Press declares that the German line north of Kiev has fallen and the British United Press reports that the Russians have pierced in depth the semi-circular outer defences of Kiev. The Moscow newspaper “Pravda” says that the Russians captured the enemy’s defence zone on the west bank of the Dnieper and fought their Way far beyond the river and occupied dozens of villages. It adds that the breach is so wide that two entire infantry formations, probably divisions, fully equipped with anti-tank guns and mortars, have gone through the enemy’s lines. The battle is new not so much for the Dnieper as for the high hills and important positions west of the river. A breakthrough may well mean the fall of Kiev.

The Soviet communique to-night announces that the Russians in the Gomel direction occupied the railway f junction of Eovobyelitsa, which is a suburb of Gomel, on the left bank of the Soj River. It also reports that the Russians on the middle Dnieper continued their offensive, extended tlieir bridgeheads and considerably improved their positions'.