ODESSA EVACUATED BY RUSSIAN FORCES

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 247, 18 October 1941, Page 7

ODESSA EVACUATED BY RUSSIAN FORCES

TROOPS LEAVE BY SEA Moscow Provisioned For Long Siege U.P.A. and British Wireless. Bee. 1 p.m. LONDON, Oct. 17. Odessa has been evacuated by Russian forces after heavy fighting with the invading Axis troops. The defenders have been transported by «ea to other combat zones. The fall of Odessa Is a serious blow to the Soviet Black Sea Fleet, but not crippling. It* is pointed out that, even if Sebastopol were rendered untenable by the attack against the Crimea, Novorossisk remains as a naval base.

It is stated in authoritative circles in London that no further fletails of the Russian position have been received direct as the British military mission is at present on me move from Moscow. The Rus--5u , morn i n g communique repeats the night communique in saying that fighting continues along the whole iront, being at its most intense in the sector in the western direction.

The Moscow newspaper Pravda ®?y s: "There is grave danger and the whole nation has only one wish and one thought, and that is to Block the road of the enemy and to annihilate the enemy. Hitler feared a long war—a war against the three most powerful countries in the world, well knowing that aid from Britain and the United States will to Russia from overseas, therefore, he is in a hurry; therefore he has thrown into the battle all his reserves, the troops of his vassals and a stream of tanks. Now itj is necessary to strengthen our ranks, and no losses will weaken our determination to annihilate the enemy. The more towns and villages are occupied and destroyed by the enemy the more the Soviet nation hates him. In the hour of danger pur nation will not know any feelof panic. Now, when the situation has become more complicated, ye shall be more brave than ever before.

Guerillas Hitting Hard | "The whole nation Is rising. In the factories the production is increasing, and more tanks, planes and guns are being produced. Our Red Army is getting new reserves. Partisans behind the front are inflicting losses on the enemy. The Soviet people are looking the danger straight in the eyes, knowing well their own strength and the strength of their Allies. Hitler has thrown into the battle all his forces, but the Soviet people are confident of victory."

Saying that the peril to Moscow will strike the sympathetic imagination of the whole British people, The Times adds: "Hitler may even now not cherish the illusion that if his generals succeed .in hoisting the swastika over the Kremlin, Russia is defeated. Moscow will fight as desperately as Leningrad has fought to keep the invader at bay, but if the men and women of Moscow were once more overwhelmed by foreign hordes Russia would still live and conquer." Great Stocks of Food The Mayor of Moscow told an American journalist who has just arrived in London that great stocks of food and fuel were stored in the Soviet capital, where, even without one additional carload of food and fuel the population could be sustained until the spring.

The journalist said: "I saw some of these stores in warehouses and converted buildings, in which there were mountains of potatoes, large bins of wheat and barley, and acres of coal, and wood. The city will be able to stand a siege of at least six months, even if it is cut off from fresh supplies.

"Moscow is well defended. The whole population seemed to be working on defences. Almost every tall building ha§ anti-aircraft guns on it. Moscow is ready to put up the greatest defence of modern times."

The Daily Mail's Stockholm correspondent says the entire Diplomatic Corps in Moscow, also the Russian Foreign Office staff, has left the capital, it is believed for Kazan. The Diplomatic Corps left on the advice of the Russian Foreign Office, indicating that the battle for Moscow will be fought to a finish. The city will not be declared an "open town."

An unconfirmed report says the Soviet Government has left Moscow, but that M. Stalin remains in the city.

It is reported from Washington that the United States Ambassador to Russia, Mr. Laurence A. Stemhardt, and the American Embassy staff are leaving Moscow for an interior.