IN GREAT DANGER.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 64, Issue 35, 20 November 1943, Page 3

IN GREAT DANGER.

GOMEL MENACED BY RUSSIANS. VITAL POINT FOR THE ENEMY. LONDON, Nov. 19. The important railway centre of Korosten, 100 miles north-west of Kiev and 60 miles from the pre-war Polish border, has been captured by the Russians. About 130 miles northeast of Korosten the Russians have captured Ryezhitsa and Vasilevichi, on the main railway west from Gomel. Gomel is now in great danger. The Russian forces which stormed Ryezhitsa are no.w r moving back across the Dnieper to attack Gomel from the west. A dispatch from Moscow to the British Broadcasting Corporation says that the position of the German garrison is untenable, and the early fall of this important White Russian base is probable. This would unhinge the the German line in White Russia and open the way for a new Russian drive westward.

The latest reports say that Russian forces advancing west in the Gomel area are within 15 miles of the main north-south railway, which is about 60 miles from Gomel. The Germans are still attacking with tremendous power in the Jitomir area, on the southern flank of the Kiev bulge. They are using seven divisions on a narrow front, but the Russians seem to be holding on. The communique issued at Moscow last night reported no further loss of ground.

In the Dnieper Bend the Russians are making gradual headway in their drive toward Nikopol.

The capture of Ryezhitsa, about 130 miles above Korosten, was announced in an order of the day by M. Stalin. The town fell on Wednesday night to the Russians after three days of fierce fighting. This important town guards the. western approach to Gomel, one of the key German fortresses on the White Russia front. The Red Army force which captured Ryezhitsa is now free to converge on Gomel from the west. Gomel is already seriously threatened by Soviet forces to the north. The last road and rail communication from the city is now under bombardment by Russian artillery.

A Russian supplementary communique on the capture of Ryezhitsa says that Soviet troops entered the town simultaneously from the north-west and south-west, and routed the enemy in street fighting. Individual enemy groups attempting to reach the west bank of the Dnieper by rafts and boats were wiped out.

The capture of Korosten and Ryezhitsa was celebrated by salvoes from 124 of Moscow’s guns.