RUSSIANS REACH OUTER WARSAW

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 180, 1 August 1944, Page 5

RUSSIANS REACH OUTER WARSAW

Latest Nazi Report WHOLE LINE CRACKING UNDER HEAVY PRESSURE (N.Z.P.A. —Copyright.—Rec. 12.30 p.m.) LONDON, July 31. Marshal Rokossovsky's armies are maintaining pressure against Warsaw over a broad front. Marshal Stalin to-night announces the capture of Minsk Mazowiecki, 21 miles east of Warsaw, Siedlce, and Lukow, 17 miles south of Siedlce, which an Order of the Day describes as powerful enemy defence strongholds on the approaches to Warsaw. < Later reports state that Marshal Stalin's most recent Order of the Day, announcing the capture of several towns in the Warsaw region, place Russian troops 12 to 14 miles from the heart of the city. German reports put them even nearer, for they state that the Red Army is only six miles from Warsaw.

The British United Press points out that the capture of Minsk Mazowiecki confirms that the German garrison at Siedlce was unable to fight its way back to Warsaw because the road thence was cut.

The German news agency commentator von Olberg indicates that the Russians have made even greater progress. He says a large-scale Russian attack, on Praga, a suburb of Warsaw, was broken up by a counter-attack, adding: "Fierce fighting continues as the Russians attempt to penetrate to the main section of the city."

From Warsaw to Kaunas the whole German line is breaking down under the Red Army's consistent pounding, says Reuters Moscow correspondent. Red Army forces of General Chernyakhov and General Zakharov and the right flank group of Marshal Rokossovsky's army are now all free to launch concentrated attacks from any number of points along the 200-mile arc from south of Siauliai to south-east of Warsaw.

General Chernyakhov is most likely to be the Russian general to be first to enter German territory. He has broken the Niernen River line, whereas other Red Army generals farther south still face serious barriers, such as the marshes, Suwalki lakes and Augustow Canal. General Chernyakhov, on the other hand, has already penetrated the fortified zone of Suwalki.