RUSSIAN PRESSURE INCREASING

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 120, 16 February 1944, Page 5

RUSSIAN PRESSURE INCREASING

Trapped German Forces CAPTURE OF KORSUN LONDON, February 15. The Russians are steadily increasing their stranglehold on the 10 trapped divisions west of Cherkassy and the enemy forces have been squeezed into a still smaller area with the capture of Korsun, the "heart” of the Kanev position. A correspondent in Moscow says that the German remnants are on their last legs, and isolated groups, dazed and hungry, are coming out of the pocket. Outside the ring, General von Mannstein’s desperate effort to smash through and avoid another Stalingrad has made some progress, but he has still 20 miles to go and it is considered in Moscow that he cannot get through in time. Moscow dispatches say that the Russians continue to gain i ground toward Pskov, but the terrain is difficult and stiffer German resistance can be expected.

Last night’s Soviet communique reported : — “North of Zvenigorodka and Shpola, the Russians overcame the enemy resistance and captured Korsun, which is a district centre of the- Kiev region, and fought their way into a number of other localities. Simultaneously, north-west of Svenigorodka, they fought a fierce battle with large enemy infantry and tank forces which were attempting to break through to the assistance of the encircled groups. The Germans, at the cost of heavy losses of men and material, succeeded in driving an insignificant wedge into our defences.” Reuter says that Korsun was the Germans’ centrol fortress inside the Kanev pocket, and its capture means that resistance within the. encircled area must virtually be liquidated. The battle of annihilation is now moving to its close. Russian guns massed on all sides today kept up the etorm of fire, and one German strongpoint after another is erupting smoke and flame. Prisoners and deserters, with their nerves strained to breaking-point by the bombardment, are coming out of the trap in increasing numbers. The German attempt to break open an escane corridor with powerful armoured forces north-west * of Svenigorodka has not lost its impetus. The panzer losses in this battle approach the heaviest of recent months. Moscow, however, is confident that the victory salute for the final annihilation of the encircled Germans is near.

Drive Toward Pskov. LONIDON, February 14. The battle to decide the fate of Latvia and the Gulf of Riga is beginning at the approaches to Pskov, says Reuter's Moscow correspondent, and the Germans are reported to be rushing up reserves from the rear for the ' defence of the town. The German forces defeated at Luga, Batetskaya, and Lake Peipus are falling back in confusion on the northern and eastern approaches of Pskov, and three Russian forces are pursuing them. Russian cavalry and tanks pressed the chase last night, and today are thrusting down, the railway to Pskov. This force was last reported 30 miles from Pskov. Anothei; Russian force simultaneously cut the Luga-Pskov railway south-west of Luga. The Russians by-passed the great German hedgehog position at Staraya Russa from the north-west, and the German garrison, holding the end of a narrow and very exposed salient, faces encirclement as the Russians swing in against Pskov.

Sudden frosts are taking toll of the Germans falling back across the marshy ground, and German dead and wounded who fall on the march are frozen stiff overnight. Big forces of guerrillas are operating in close contact with the Germans, wrecking the communications, harrying the retreating columns, and clearing minefields from the path of the Red Army. The Stockholm correspondent of “The Times,” commencing on the position on the northern front, says the Germans have better road communications than those in the Russian rear, but they are certainly nervous about blows against their flank from the Staraya Russa, Novel and Vitebsk sectors, -which might force a further German evasion, including the abandonment of Estonia and half of Latvia, to the Dvina River. The correspondent says that this possibility is not one of the immediate future, as the distances are long and swamps may then become impassable for traffic early this year.

Battle For Krivoi Rog.

The German news agency, which for several days has mentioned Russian attacks near Krivoi Rog, says the fighting has flared up into a major hattie. “Russian pressure along the lower Dnieper to Krivoi Rog has greatly increased,” it says; “Considerable, reinforcements have reached the Russians. Infantry divisions, tank formations, and swarms of battle planes are participating in a combined attempt to overrun the Germans forces. Hand-to-hand fighting of the greatest fury lasted for several hours, before the Russians were repulsed.” Berlin radio said that a new Russian bridgehead has been established across the lower Dnieper, opposite Malaya Detetikha. which is 30 miles south-west of Nikopol and <5O miles south-east of Krivoi Rog. Moscow says that the Germans are removing Gestapo officials and war correspondents from Estonia, Latvia and White Russia.