STERN RESISTANCE AT SEBASTOPOL

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23482, 10 November 1941, Page 5

STERN RESISTANCE AT SEBASTOPOL

Fierce Fighting In Crimea

((.'KITED PRESS ASSOCIATION— COPYRIGHT.) (Received November 9,11 p.m.) LONDON, November 9. There has been no important change on the eastern front in the last 24 hours. In spite of the German efforts to confuse the situation at Moscow, the Russians seem to be holding the enemy. The Russians say that in some directions the Germans are on the defensive. There has been no fresh news of the situation in the Crimea, though the overnight Russian communique reports particularly fierce fighting there. The correspondent of “The Times” on the German frontier reported yesterday that although advanced German troops had reached Sebastopol’s outer defences, the resistance of the Russians inspired confidence. The Russians claim that Sebastopol will prove as hard a nut to crack as Odessa and Leningrad. Kerch, the correspondent reported, appears to be more immediately threatened. Its fortificatons are less formidable than Sebastopol’s, and the Germans are more eager, for prestige reasons, to overwhelm the easier objective, enabling a landing on the mainland and thus establishing their claim that they have begun moving towards the Caucasus. \ Neutral military circles are sceptical about the seriousness of the Germans’ intentions to attempt to reach Baku before the spring, because failure would make disastrous inroads into their oil reserves. In the eastern Ukraine, the Hungarians claim that the Russian lines have been broken at several places, but that claim is unconfirmed.