RUSSIANS MAINTAIN PRESSURE

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 105, 27 January 1940, Page 11

RUSSIANS MAINTAIN PRESSURE

Battle Near Lake Ladoga EFFORT APPEARS DOOMED TO FAILURE Far North Fighting Resumed (By Telegraph —Press Association— Copyright.) Received January 26, 10.30 p.m. LONDON, January 26. The plans of the Russians to envelop the Mannerheim Line by breaking through north-east of Lake Ladoga seem to ic doomed to failure, states a message from Helsinki. lie invaders’ general offensive has progressed to a minimum extent in the past five days, though the pressure against the Finnish lines is maintained. The Red air terror continues, and a number ot places remote from the military bases have been bombed. The Finnish communique records most violent lighting at Aittojoki. where the enemy were heavily repulsed and also at Kollaanjoki, where the enemy, for the first time, launched night attacks. The Finns were equally successful at Markajarvi and in Petsamo in the far north. The enemy lost hundreds of men. Russian long-range fire on Viborg was ineffective, and bombing attacks on the Kuusame and Aaland Islands were without result. . The Finns regard the front north of Lake Ladoga as vital but impregnalble unless the Russians turn its flank. Phe Russian commanders are lavishly squandering lives in an etfoi t to accomplish this and have expended 10,000 dead and wounded in the past week, while many tanks fell into Finnish hands. RESPITE EXPECTED. The Finns feel that the Russians must take a breathing space, which will give them a respite and enable a reorganization of their defences. Many Lapps are fighting on the Rovaniemi front farther north. Their knowledge of the country is invaluable to the Finns. The Russians partly circumvented the loss of tanks through mines by pushing rollers before the tanks in order to explode the mines, but this was not completely effective. A large-scale plan has been initiated to evacuate Finnish refugees to Sweden. The first stage deals with 20,000 women and children and aged people from the Tornea Valley (down the Fin-nish-Swedish border). A Finnish surgeon from the front states that he operated on two Russian girls wearing lieutenant’s uniform who were wounded by rifle bullets while working in the ambulance corps.