RED FLAG ALOFT

Evening Star, Issue 25472, 1 May 1945, Page 5

RED FLAG ALOFT

Heart of Berlin Occupied

Appalling Slaughter of Defenders

Bodies Strew Unter den Linden

Preu Association—Bj Telegraph—Copyright

(Received noon.) LONDON, April 30. The Red army victory banner is flying over the Reichstag building in Berlin", which has been captured by the Russians. The Reichstag is one of 200 blocks of buildings which the Russians have captured in their drive to the centre of Berlin. The main post office and the buildings which housed the Ministry of the Interior have also been captured. Red army battleflags to-night were planted on the Tiergarten and the Unter den Linden, report Moscow correspondents. AH declare that Marshal Zhukov and Marshal Koniev are redoubling their efforts to complete Berlin's subjection, so that a tremendous victory salute by Moscow's guns to-morrow will coincide with the May Day celebrations.

Eeuter's correspondent, on the other hand, says that German resistance is still considerable, and the slaughter of the defenders to-day reached a new level as the garrison commanders recklessly threw more and more troops into costly counter-attacks. The Germans attempted to throw parachute reserve troops into the battle area, but they either landed wide of the German garrison or were quickly mopped up. after landing in the Kussian-held sectors. The British United Press Moscow correspondent says that Red army tanks and guns, now heavily reinforced for the final battle, are rolling down streets three abreast towards the last, core of Ger-. man resistance. Some of the most bitter battles are raging amid burning ruins. The Unter den Linden is now littered with the bodies of unshaven men of the Volkssturm and the Grenadiers. The Germans are being broken up into small groups, and their losses in the past 24 hours are likely to be the highest they have ever suffered. A Russian reporter, calling from Berlin to Moscow, said: &' Berlin is pretty thoroughly destroyed."