RED ARMY SEIZES KEY CENTRES IN GREAT OFFENSIVE

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 40, 17 February 1943, Page 2

RED ARMY SEIZES KEY CENTRES IN GREAT OFFENSIVE

(By W. S The fall of Rostov, which has changed hands for the fourth time in fifteen months, is claimed to open the road to the reconquest of the Ukraine by the Russian armies. Successive conquerors of the Ukraine since the dawn of history have come almost entirely from the east and by the route which the victorious Russians are now following. Cimmerians, the original inhabitants of Mesopotamia, and the warlike Sycthians swept across this route centuries before Christ, and in our own era Mongols, Huns and Tartars were victorious in their swift sweeps across the ope'n plains of the Ukraine. The domination of the Tartars actually gave the Ukraine its present name. Russian life moved further north under this invasion pressure, and this fertile area north of the Black Sea gradually became known as "Ukraine" or "frontier." Its present population is largely descended from malcontents, who braved the rigours of frontier life rather than be oppressed 'by the Polish and Lithuanian princes, who ruled the north. From these rebellious spirits developed the famous Cossacks, whose superb horsemanship and dashing spirit have made the Ukraine famous. Agricultural Wealth The Ukrainian steppes are swept by severe snowstorms in winter, but the melting snow brings wealth in the spring, providing adequate moisture for the rich black soil. Under modern Soviet organisation huge collective farms take the finest possible crops of grain and vegetables from the rich earth, using thoroughly economic and mechanised methods. Until the revolution, agriculture was almost'the exclusive activity of the Ukrainians, but with the development of industry within the U-S.S.R., under Government prompting, these steppes have added a high industrial development to their agricultural wealth. Large deposits of coal, iron, manganese and mercury were being extensively worked before the war. In' 1939 cotton growing was fostered to the extent of half a million acres. These developments rapidly made Kharkov, the largest Ukrainian city, the most important railway centre in all Russia and the Republic generally, perhaps the most important, economically, in the Union. The great rivers which water the Steppes flow into the Black Sea. At the mouths of these rivers—the Dniester, the Bug, the Dnieper and the Donetz, which flows into the Don—are deposits of salt mud, which have curative properties. Health resorts have been established, and the Black Sea coast <?f the Ukraine was to the old Russian aristocracy what the South of France is to the British leisured classes. Since the revolution the elaborate villas and hotels have been used to provide young workers with officially sponsored holidays. German Interest It is well-known that Hitler, in his early utterances, spoke covetously of the Ukraine. Its vast supplies of food and the raw material of industry make it obviously a rich prize. Stalin's mysterious friendship pact with Germany in 1939 no doubt had in view as one of its gains the preservation of the Ukraine from invasion. The western portion of the Republic had been previously put on a war footing as a special military area.

LOWE) After the collapse of Russia during the last war the Ukrainians endeavoured to establish their independence and were actually recognised by the Central Powers in return for an undertaking to supply large quantities of grain. Later, German armies occupied the Ukraine to enforce delivery of this sorely needed food. The movement for independence struggled on through much bloodshed. Finally a Republic was established and recognised by both Poland and Russia, but the League of Nations refused Ukrainia's application for membership in 1921, because of internal instability. Two years later the Republic joined the Soviet Union. Ukrainians have kinsmen in prewar Czechoslovakia and Poland. In the former they were favoured by German friendship even after the conquest. No doubt the German authorities were seeking the favour of the Republic by this action. Stalin's advance into Poland, following her collapse before the German onslaught, was stated to be for the protection of the large White Russian and Ukrainian populations. The Ukrainophile movement, which came to a head during the last war, originally aimed to unite all these kinsmen in one State. The Czechoslovakian group in CarpathoRuthenia had a pre-war government which proclaimed its intention of becoming the nucleus of an independent Greater Ukraine. No doubt the re-drawing of the frontiers of Eastern Europe will have to include some endeavour to give expression to this national spirit. However, it may be taken for granted that Russia will not give up what she is now advancing to regain.