Begun By Russians

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVI, Issue 70, 20 September 1943, Page 5

Begun By Russians

GREATEST DAY OF DRIVE

Eec.-ll a.m. RUGBY, September 19. r Yet another offensive has just been announced by Stalin. It extends the front of the Russian advance another 100 miles northward to beyond Smolensk and brings the Russians 30 miles northeast of that city.

An Order of the Day addressed to Generals Yeremenko and 'Sokolovsky states: "Troops of the Kalinin front, in four days of fierce fighting, broke a strongly fortified enemy defence zone and cleared positions long prepared at Eikshevo, Berdino, Lomonosovo, Kulagino, and Pankratov.

"Soviet troops took by storm a most important defence point on the road to Smolensk, the town of Dukhovshchina.

"Troops of the western front, after stubborn fighting, broke the enemy resistance and occupied an important point of the German defence on the approaches to Smolensk, the town and station of Yartsevo. .

"Thus Soviet troops broke down a strongly-fortified enemy defence zone erected long ago which closed the so-called 'Smolensk gate.' " The usual salvos were ordered to be fired in Moscow. Yartsevo, which is.on the main route from Moscow via Vyazma, is 31 miles north-east of Smolensk, and Dukhovshchina is 32 miles north-north-east of the city. The front of the whole offensive, from the Smolensk sector to the Sea of Azov and across the Taman Peninsula, is now between 800 and 900 greatest progress since the offensive'began two months ago is 200 miles in the centre, while 150 miles have been gained in /the Donets Basin and 130 miles in the Bryansk area. The Russians yesterday made their greatest gains of any day of the whole campaign, capturing over 700 places. The latest official report says that the troops who captured Mirgorod and Romodan, the junction for. Kremenchug on the Kiev-Poltava line, killed over 1000 Germans at one place. Two hundred prisoners were taken m an advance to a s point 40 miles northeast of Kiev. ■ ■ ~ , . The enemy tried counter-attacks to prevent the Russian advance on Zaporozhe and Melitopol, but Soviet mobile units by-passed strong places and continued to advance, leaving pointsi of resistance to be cleared by the following troops. The troops who captured Chernigovka, east of Zaporozhe, killed 800 Germans and took much booty and m pavlograd was captured after the German defences on the rivers Samara and Volchya had been broken and a German infantry regiment wiped -out. Hustling the ~ Germans. eastward of Bryansk the Russians killed or wounded 2000 at a river crossing and captured the entire artillery and arms of two regiments, : together with 800 hundred Germans were killed in the pursuit from Novorossisk. In the Kuban a well-prepared position was broken and several thousand of the enemy wiped out. An enemy transport,was sunk by aircraft of the Black Sf The German retreat goes on without pause from the Smolensk sector to the Sea of Azov, says,a Moscow message. TheL-ondon "Times" says that eventshave moved swiftly in the. past four days and compares the. Russian advance to an advancing tide which "flows inexorably forward, turning, isolating, and ultimately submerging the islands of resistance which it encounters, pouring swiftly forward at some points, at others banking up to break through and over obstacles. The Russians ;are surging on vwards Kiev. On the northern and. southern flanks: of their wedge strategically important positions (gmtinue to fall into the Russian hands.—B.O.W.