STILL STANDING FIRM

Evening Post, Volume CXXXII, Issue 37, 12 August 1941, Page 7

STILL STANDING FIRM

THE RED ARMY

NEW BATTLES FLARE UP

(By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright.) (Rec. 9.30 a.m.) LONDON, August 11. The news that two new battles have flared up around Soltsy, 25 miles west of Lake Ilmen, and Uman, 120 miles south of Kiev, arrived on the fifth day ; of the third German offensive. The j mention of these names suggests that the Germans have made new advances on the Leningrad front and in the Ukraine, but there is no indication of Russian weakening in the battle for Smolensk. The Red army still apparently stands firmly in the centre of the battle line. Soltsy, which lies astride the north-lo-south railway from Leningrad, represents a German advance of 49 miles north-east from Porkhov, which was

he last-mentioned zone of operations to Leningrad. Kholm returns to the news as the centre of renewed fighting, suggesting that the Germans are continuing their efforts to drive a wedge between the northern and central Russian armies. The fighting around Uman indicates a deepened drive into the Ukraine * with a view to turning the line on the Dnieper. This, if successful, would probably entail a big withdrawal by the Red army. It is reported from Ankara that the Germans are usnig 70 divisions in the drive south of Kiev. If true, this means that over a million men are pressing towards Russia's newlycreated industrial centre on the lower y Dnieper. It is believed in London that the German pressure in the Ukraine is continuing" and that the threat against Odessa has become greater in the past three days. The midday Moscow . communique merely states that fighting continued during the night in the Smolensk, Byelaya-Tserkov, Uman, and Estonian sectors, and that the air force dealt blows against enemy mechanised units and artillery. The Berlin communique claims that the pursuit of the retreating enemy in the Ukraine is progressing rapidly everywhere and that operations in other sectors are proceeding according' to plan. The German news agency says that the forces south of Lake Hmen completely wiped out the Soviet 180 th Division. The opinion is expressed that tanks will find it hard going in the Ukraine when the heavy rains start next month, the cduntry being typically fenland in character.