The Press WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1941. The War in the East

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23448, 1 October 1941, Page 6

The Press WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1941. The War in the East

Since the fall of Kiev and the German claim to have encircled four Russian armies east of the city, the situation on the eastern front has been watched with bated breath. Several times in the last four months the German high command has declared a large-scale collapse of Russian resistance to be imminent; and on each occasion the Russians have managed to withdraw the bulk of their forces in good order and to fight back. This time, however, it did seem that along the whole of the 600-mile front between Gomel and the Black Sea the Russians had suffered a defeat which might be the turning point of the war in the east. The line of the Dnieper, the last natural obstacle barring the way to the Donetz basin, was both flanked and broken; in the far south a German column had reached the Sea of Azov; and Russian communiques admitted fighting in the neighbourhood of Poltava, 70 miles beyond the Dnieper and about 80 miles from Kharkov, military centre of the eastern Ukraine. These developments seemed to mean that a German occupation of the Donetz basin, where half Russia’s heavy industries are concentrated, was a matter of a few weeks away and that the drive for the Caucasian oilfields would be well under way before the onset of winter. The Russian communiques seemed to justify these fears, for after the fall of Kiev they reverted to an ominously reticent formula about “ engaging the “ enemy along the whole length of the front.” Though it is still impossible to estimate the extent of the losses and disorganisation suffered by Marshal Budenny’s forces, and though it is unlikely that there can be any very strong Russian stand west of the Don, the latest news is soberly encouraging. Resistance in the Crimea appears to be well organised and determined; a Russian communique claims the defeat of Rumanian forces in the Ukraine; and the Berlin wireless speaks of Russian counterattacks in superior force. The most important news, however, comes from the central front, where Marshal Timoshenko claims to have thrown the invaders back from the Desna river on a wide front in the neighbourhood of Bryansk. If this is true, the outlook in the Ukraine has been changed for the better, Bryansk, about 150 miles north-east of Gomel, is a key point on the railway line and the system of.military highways linking Kiev with Moscow, and is only 70 miles from the railway linking Moscow and Kharkov. If the Germans could establish themselves at Bryansk—they claimed to have entered the town a. month ago —they would be able to prevent Marshal Timoshenko from moving forces southwards to assist in the defence of the Ukraine and would be able to develop a southward drive designed to take the defences of Kharkov in the rear. This is the type of manoeuvre which the Germans have used twice in the south with deadly effect. The Russian line along the Dniester was made untenable by a drive south from Zhitomir along the Bug river; and the Dnieper line was left in the air by a drive south from Gomel. More than ever now, the central front provides thq key to the southern front, since German columns moving south from the central area have the advantage of moving along instead of across the lines of the main rivers. [A map showing the Bryansk region appears on the opposite page.]