DECISIVE STAGE

Evening Post, Volume CXXXII, Issue 42, 18 August 1941, Page 7

DECISIVE STAGE

NOW BEING REACHED

RUSSIAN RESISTANCE

MANY LARGE POCKETS

i.By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright.)

LONDON, August 17. A decisive stage is now being reached in. the two-month-old war on the Russian front, but at present Hitler's allout effort to smash the Russian armies before winter is apparently being checked at all important points.

The Berlin radio, boasting of a "week of successes," stated: "A newGerman movement has begun on the northern front, but the forces are greatly handicapped by the difficult terrain. The Soviet command is endeavouring to evade encirclement, but the fighting capacity of the Red army no longer seems sufficient."

The German armies fighting on the eastern and western shores of Lake Peipus, the radio claims, will soon linkup. It is stated that new operations have also been started and initial successes achieved north of the Pripet Marshes.

The main Nazi pressure is still in the Ukraine, where Herr Hitler is reported to have taken personal command. Berlin now states that the south-western Ukraine is "dotted with large pockets of Russian resistance, some of which are largely allowing for the Kussians a certain freedom of movement." AVOIDANCE OF NAZI TRAP. This contrasts with the earlier German claim that Marshal Budenny's main forces had been encircled, and it again indicates that Marshal Budenny has slipped out of the trap that was set for him west of the Dnieper. The absence of German claims to have made large hauls of prisoners is also regarded as suggesting an orderly Russian withdrawal.

The Berlin radio claims that the 6th and 12th Russian armies in the Ukraine have been wiped out and that Lieuten. ant-General Musichenko, commander of the 6th, and also the commander of the neigbouring army have both been captured. It adds that between July 22 and August 13 one advanced German unit captured 79 guns, 79 lorries, 250 other vehicles, and 1000 horses.

Dispatches emphasise the desperate quality of the fighting, in which no quarter is asked or given. Berlin reports that 131 Soviet planes were destroyed on August 15 for the loss of three German planes, and also states that bombers have blocked the Stalin Canal, the southern flood-gates of which were destroyed and the northern gates directly hit. NAZI TOIiL AT SMOLENSK. Lieut-General Yeremenko, broadr casting from Moscow, said that Smolensk was the scene of heavy fighting for a month. The city changed hands many times, and every street and house saw fierce fighting. The Germans paid dearly in blood for every inch they gained. Many crack German divisions which assembled in the Smolensk area under renowned generals no longer existed, and others lost at least half their man-power. The sth and 187 th Infantry Divisions and the 7th Motorised Division were smashed in the Smolensk area, and the 11th and 13th Storm Troop Divisions and the 253 rd and 100 th Infantry Divisions were destroyed in the Mohi* lev sector. In addition, many tank regiments were reduced to infantry units. The 20th Tank Division s left over 200 tanks on one battlefield. Moscow denies the German claim to have cautured the iron ore centre of Krivoy-Rog. VAST FRONT OP OFFENSIVE. While the renewed German offensive in Russia appears to be concentrated in the three major salients, it actually extends along the entire length of the front from the Arctic to the Black Sea, says the Moscow coirespondent of the "New York Times," Mr. A. H. Sulzberger. The Germans have been slowed down in the northern sectors, but have gained considerable territory in the south Ukraine, where they are aiming to reach the Dnieper industrial region. They plan to consolidate their position there for a drive towards the Don Basin and the Caucasus; however,, they axe far from even, beginning

Elsewhere on the front, except foithe apparently minor Finnish gains around Lake Ladoga in the far north, there has been little change for nearly a month.

Moscow's continuous reference to fighting all along the front implies not so much stagnation as successful and sustained resistance.

Following the recent report that the Germans were trying to collect 5,000,000 fur coats for their troops against the Russian winter comes a story from Sweden that 400,000 skis have been ordered.

The Germans are evidently realising that their hope of a quick victory in Russia is dwindling, and are preparing for a winter of war. as the Russians have been doing right from the start.

In the central sector, Marshal Timosbenko is reported to nave launched a strong counter-attack. Moscow reports that, a large German unit has been encircled and smashed up.

to accomplish such a task, as the Russian fleet still controls the Black Sea and the Ukrainian armies so , far have avoided encirclement. Marshal Budenny's forces in the Ukraine remain intact.

The German newspaper "Frankfurter Zeitung" says that the Russians' intention to wear down the German army by constantly-repeated pressure of superior forces is being shown more and more clearly.

In the Leningrad and Smolensk areas, it is learned, the Germans are still held up. The Russian commander in ,the Smolensk area describes the