RUSSIAN DRIVES IN KUBAN

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23942, 8 May 1943, Page 5

RUSSIAN DRIVES IN KUBAN

Novorossiisk In Danger

FIERCE FIGHTING CONTINUES (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 11 p.m.) .LONDON, May 7. The Russians have launched a double drive on the' Black Sea port of Novorossiisk. One force is pushing through the mountain barrier protecting the town from the north-east, and the second force is moving up from the south. A third force is advancing along the Kuban Valley towards the sea to cut off the enemy’s last line of retreat. Moscow reports state that fierce fighting continued last night, but the Russians are only five miles away from the town. Germaft counter-attacks have failed to regain lost ground, and the enemy has suffered severe losses. The Russians are reported to have captured a number of hills overlooking Novorossiisk. The Red Air Force is making raids on German reserves on their way up to the front. Reuter’s correspondent in Stockholm states that the Russian pressure against Novorossiisk has considerably increased in the last 24 hours. The latest German reports, emphasising,the enormous Russian superiority in men and material, suggest that the Germans have little hope of retaining Novorossiisk much longer. A Soviet communique says the Germans on Thursday launched numerous counter-attacks on the Kuban front north-east of Novorossiisk, attempting to regain lost localities. The Red Army repelled all the attacks, inflicting heavy losses on the enemy. The supplementary communique says north-east of Novorossiisk the enemy attempted to stem the Soviet advance and launched counter-attacks which often developed into hand-to-hand

fighting. The Red Army stubbornly resisted and occupied several important heights. In one sector alone the Germans lost 1500 killed. Six tanks were destroyed and the Russians captured much booty. Soviet bombers destroyed several tanks and 25 guns, blew up an ammunition dump, and wiped out a large number of troops. Local activities are reported on the central front in the area of Syevsk, south of Balaklaya and west of Rostov. In the Barents Sea naval units sank an enemy transport and a trawler. The Germans, if they are forced to evacuate Novorossiisk, their last important base on the Kuban mainland, are likely to suffer a “Dunkirk” on a smaller scale. It will be a hazardous undertaking for the Germans to evacuate by sea under the guns of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, and the Red Air Force seems to control the skies hereabouts.

The Moscow correspondent of the British United Press states that the Russian forces which captured Krymskaya and broke through on a 17 miles front, have occupied a chain of villages, including Neberdzhaedskaya, which is 12 miles north-east of Novorossiisk and controls the pass through the mountains dominating the city. The break-through extended from Neberdzhaedskaya to Adagum, eight miles south of the Kuban river. The Russians have been fighting on the southern outskirts of Novorossiisk all winter.

Reuter’s correspondent in Moscow states that Krymskaya blazed with a light as bright as day when Russian tommy gunners smashed their way in. The Germans had set fire to buildings in Krymskaya and the battlefield was strewn with the wreckage of smashed German aeroplanes, which attempted to hold up the Russian onslaught. Wave after wave of Russian aeroplanes supported the army in the battle for the town. Big Russian guns also participated in the assault. The Moscow radio says a strong formation of long-range Soviet aeroplanes successfully bombed the railway junctions at Dnepropetrovsk, Kremenchug, and Bryansk on Wednesday night. The junctions were jammed with ammunition trains and many explosions and fires were observed. A German statement quoted by the Vichy radio says that 69 of more than 100 Soviet aeroplanes which raided the Orel aerodrome yesterday afternoon were shot down. The Paris radio reports that Russian artillery fired 20,000 shells in one day during the Kuban offensive. A commentator described the Russian drive down the railway from Krymskaya as aimed to form a junction with the Russian forces landed north of Novorossiisk. The Russians are supplying the latter force by sea because they are unable to use the Tuapse-Novoros-siisk road. ‘‘Pravda’’ warns the people that the summer days are approaching and therefore activity is increasing along the whole front. Official Russian references to other sectors than the Kuban reveal activity on a swelling scale, but only local actions as distinct from full-scale offensives.