RUSSIAN PRESSURE

Greymouth Evening Star, 22 November 1943, Page 5

RUSSIAN PRESSURE

GAINS IN DNIEPER AREA

EVACUATION OF JITOMIR

GERMAN ATTACKS SUCCEED,

LONDON, November 21. While the Germans are striking into the southern flank pi the Russian salient west from Kiev, the Red Armv is maintaining pressure on all other sectors. Because the occupation of Jitomir put the Russians ‘at a disadvantage of position,' the Red Army has withdrawn here; but directly north, above the junction of Korosten, the Russians have taken Ovrush, and north of Ovrush the German forces are being pinched back against the Pripct Marshes. A new bridgehead across the Dnieper near Cherkasy has been thrown across by two Russian forces, one of which has swung in to attack Cherkasy itself, while the second is moving south down The main road to the Dnieper Bend. South from Dnepropetrovsk, the Red Army is moving ahead, and in the north the rapid enveloping movement hourly increases the danger of the German garrison in Gomel. " The Germans everywhere are hghting back fiercely, and in the Jitomir area continue to throw a heavy weight of men and armour against the Russian forces which withdrew. Correspondents in Moscow say that there is no indication that there has been any further withdrawal, although the situation has not yet been stabilised. Friday night’s Russian communique says: “Under the orders of the Supreme Command, the Russians, in view of the unfavourable nature of their positions, evacuated Jitomir and occupied othdr positions more favourable for defence.” A few minutes after the issue of this Soviet communique the Berlin radio said: “The position of the Soviet forces in the Jitomir area is deteriorating every minute. The Germans, in spite of vigorous Russian resistance, succeeded in surrounding an advanced Soviet force and compelled the Russians, by energetic attacks against their flanks, to withdraw from an important road.” Early on Saturday correspondents in Moscow reported that the tempo of the battle in the Jitomir wedge was still mounting. Reuter said the Germans had poured in more men and tanks, and, with clearer skies, a greater number of German aeroplanes were participating. The Russian night communique on Friday said: “Troops of the Ist Ukrainian front, as a result of a swift blow, last night occupied the town and railwayjunction of Oviuch and 30 inhabited places. The Rus sians in the Cherkasy region crossed the Dnieper and captured severm fortified enemy strongpoints on the west bank, and are now fighting at the approaches to Cherkasy. Late P on Saturday the Russians were reported to be lighting in the northern suburbs of Cherkasy.

BRIDGEHEAD widened LONDON, November 21 The Red Army’s newspaper, Tea Sier” reports that the new bridgeheads across the Dnieper al Chorknsy are rapidly being enlarged into wide gates threatening the Ger..mn communications. Cherkasy is W scribed as a centre oi Germanßesistance and exceptionally hea.uj fortified. . . This new Russian crossing at Gaelkasv was made with the aid oi troops landed by aircraft on the rigid bank, according to a Soviet communique. These, together with partisans, dealt a surprise blow at v..e Germans. Taking advantage oi the German confusion, the mam body crossed the river and occupier, strongly fortified defence eenties. The enemy, attempting to restore if.e situation, brought up all the reset ves he had in the neighbourhood, out these were driven, back alter n-ice fighting and the Russians continued to push on to the approaches to Cherkasy. Two thousand Germans are reported killed. These figures are not complete. Messages ivom Moscow say that the new crossing is thought to be highly significant, in view of the German counter-blow at Jitomir, and the stalemate at Krivoi Rog.' If the Russians are. able to push ahead, probably in the direction of Smyelo, they will threaten tne vital junction of the main communications of the enemy's forces on the west bank of the middle reaches of the Dnieper. Fighting continues in the immediate vicinity of Ovrush. The loss of that junction is serious for the Germans, as it deprives them of good railway communication between Mosir on the Pripet and the north Ukrainian front. It is not yet dear whether the air-borne division which helped to capture Ovrush was, m fact, landed from the air.

LOSS OF JITOMIR LONDON, November 21. The recapture of Jitomir is the first German gain of any importance since the Russian spearhead, driving west from Kharkov, was temporarily blunted by the German armoured counter-thrust at a place 260 miles cast of the present front. Giving the first real estimate of the threat facing the Russians from the Germans’ counter-thrust in the Jitomir-Fastov area, the Moscow correspondent of “The Times” says that the German commander, who is believed to have had four tank divisions when he was forced from Kiev, has since received three more armoured divisions from the Dnieper Bend. “Allowing for losses and the general scaling down of the strength of individual German units, the Russians still probably face BCD or 700 German tanks concentrated- on a narrow front. The weather has now improved, allowing tlie Luftwaffe to play a more active part. The fighting is described as very heavy. The Germans on Friday launched a more powerful attack on one sector and then threw in fresh reserves and stepped up the scale of the battle. The enemy thrust ahead at heavy cost.”

The 4th Guards (Airborne) Division, commanded by Major-General Rumvantsev, distinguished itself particularly in the operation resulting in the capture of Ovruch. The localities captured in this offensive include Dorogin, 13 miles east. Moscow announced that the Russians on all fronts on Friday destroyed or disabled 145 tanks and shot down 10 aircraft. The Moscow radio says that the German counter-attacks have changed nothing in the general situation of the Russian front. ‘The initiative is still firmly in Russian hands,’’ said the radio. Opinion in Moscow considers that the loss of Jitomir is not likely to have any real repercussion on the High Command’s plan to continue the advance into the Western Ukraine, says the British Umted Press correspondent. “General Vatutin, through pulling back the southwestern tip of his left flank from Jitomir, has kept his left flank intact - and has been able to maintain pressure against the weaker German positions at Korosten and Ovrush.

The Russians have consolidated their positions west of Ovrush, but fighting continues with great ferocity. The Germans are launching frequent counter-attacks.” The German News Agency’s military correspondent admits that the general situation west of Kiev has not been basically changed by ’-he recapture of Jitomir. The German forces on the north bank of the Nevel sector have withdrawn according to plan to shorten their front, reports the Berlin radio's commentator, von Hammer. GERMAN LOSSES HEAVY. RUGBY, November 2.1. Some idea of the German losses in the Korostyshev area in the enemy’s counter-offensive is given in a supplementary Soviet communique. At one place alone, the Germans threw in two infantry regiments and 60 tanks, and Soviet troops killed 800 men and knocked out 32 tanks. In general, along the whole Russian front, German losses continue to be enormous. In the Black Sea, two enemy transports. totalling 4500 tons, two escorting cutters, and one self-propelled barge was sunk. Five self-propelled landing barges and one enemy transport were heavily damaged. GOMEL~AREA ~RUGBY, Nov. 21. Moscow messages say that the Germans never before concentrated such forces of tanks, infantry and aircraft for a counter-attack as on the southern Hank of the Russian salient west of Kiev. After the recapture of Jitomir, the enemy is ionrentrating on a blow from a powerful armoured list of several panzer divisions against Korostys&hev. That the majority of German tanks are daily knocked out along the entire front is claimed by Russian gunners in this narrow sector. There is no indication yet that the Germans are making an attempt to withdraw substantially their forces from the Gomel area despite the growing threat of encirclement. The lifeline to the Germans grouped in Gomel has been reduced to a corridor to the north-west sinre the extension of the Russian bridgehead over the Dnieper south and north from the town. The Russians are reported already in control of the highway to Mogiev, and are attacking strongly points covering the railway to the Jlobin area. NEW BITTER BATTLES STRUGGLE FOR CHERKASY (Reed. 11.50 a.m.) LONDON, Nov. 21. Although the Red Army is still streaming ahead beyond Ryechitsa for the Polish border, new battles have opened up further south which may shortly lead to important changes on the front, say Moscow dispatches. New bitter battles from Jitomir to Nikopol are raging, with the. Red Army striking for fresh strategic points. The heaviest battles at present arc going on near Jitomir, at Cherkasy, near Dneproprtrovsk, and near Nikopol, reports the British United Press. The Red Army is making efforts with particular determination against Cherkasy and taking heavy toll of the German reserves being rushed, up from areas.

The Red Army is throwing in more and more troops across the Dnieper against Cherkasy. The German defence positions are gradually falling into Russian hands. The capture of Cherkasy would, with Kiev and Dnepropetrovsk, give the Russians three great Dnieper bases from which to strengthen their offensive into the Western Ukraine. The German counter-attack against the south flank of General Vatutin’s Kiev salient, which is the most determined reply the enemy has made since the start of the Autumn campaign. is continuing on a large scale. The Paris radio declared that von Mannstein’s counter-offensive now extends over a 100-miles Iron I from Jitomir to the Dnieper.

GERMAN CLAIMS Reuter’s Moscow correspondent in a despatch to-night said the Red Army appeared to be fighting for positions 25 to 30 miles east of Jitomir, but north of Korosten beyond the range of the Germans’ counter-attack, the Russians continued to swing northwest round the Pripet marshes, deeper into White Russia. One Russian column driving' north from Ryechitsa in the past few hours reached the banks of the Beresina River. Another column north of Gomel is threatening Jlobin. The German News Agency commentator declared the Russians in the Kiev bulge have been forced back forty miles in. forty-eight hours. “The German spearheads are within forty miles of Kiev.”

Enemy sources say the fiercest attacks at present being launched on the south front are in the Dnieper Bend. Von Hammer declared the Red Army, with the obvious intention of cutting off the Germans in the Dnieper Bend, continued the attahk against the bridgehead at Nikopol and north-west of Privoi Rog. Miscow radio stated that the Russian offensive at Cherkasy is particularly important. The Germans are suffering irreparable losses in attempting to check this advance. To-night’s Soviet communique says: The Russians in the Dnieper Bend continued to fight local actions and captured seven strongpoints, also a railway station and south of Kremenchug captured nine strongly fortified points. The Red Army in the Korostyshev area continued to repel tank and infantry attacks inflicting heavy losses in men and material. The Russians in the Ryechitsa region continued the offensive and captured a number of strongpoints. , The Berlin radio, to-night, declared: “The German troops in Russia the fighting the hardest battle the Germans have ever fought for their existence. The Russian Winter threatens them. The German soldiers, with sacred sobriety, face an agonising period of death, darkness and blizzards.” The Berlin radio late to-night, reported that the Russians have flung in twelve infantry divisions and three tank brigades and a shock troop regiment against the German bridgehead at Nikopol. The Russians north of Krivoi Rog have thrown in thirtysix divisions and several tank corps against the German lines. STALINGRAD REBUILT. LONDON? November 20. Stalingrad, which a year ago was the target for the world’s greatest aerial and artillery bombardment and the scene of the most vicious street fighting, is a re-born city, reports the British United Press correspondent I in Moscow. “The people of StalinIgrad- have built 10,500 new houses, I 13 hospitals, and 40 schools,” he says. “They have restored 20 water supply lines and tram services. The famous Red October factory, which supplied

arms to. the defenders during the siege, is again in .production, Lhe workers christened the .first tank from the assembly line ‘Stalingrad. Thirty-five thousand volunteers are working on the reconstruction, .including housewives. Doctors, engineers, teachers, and people from all parts of the country work on the buildings after finishing their ordinary day’s work.” . t The Moscow radio says .mai ano the liberation, of the Smolensk region. 4(1,01)0 houses were repaired.

RUMANIAN WIT HDRA WAI

LONDON, November 2<l. As a result of the latest coninrence between Antonescu and Hitlm. Rumania, is reported to have begun the withdrawal of all her troops from the Russian front, says the Berne correspondent of the British Ufiner. Press. One of seven Rumanian divisions on the Eastern Front has already been withdrawn, says the correspondent. This division is now in Odessa. Hitler is said to have a.greec. to the withdrawal in return for important stocks of cereals and oil previously destined for Italy. The* Istanbul correspondent of the British United Press reports that panic has broken out in Rumanian financial circles as a result of th? steady Russian advance towards Bessarabia. According to the Turkish Bourse circles, Rumanian businessmen are trying to dump their stocks of merchandise, and many of them are trying to sell in Istanbul at any price, obtainable. MEDITERRANEAN COUNCIL. RUGBY, November 20. The Moscow radio has announced that Mr. Andrey Januari Vyshinsky has left Algiers to be Soviet representative on the Mediterranean Advisory Council. Mr. Vyshinsky was Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister. He had previously been best known for his part as Public Prosecutor in the historic trials in Moscow—notably the trial of the Metro-Vickers engineers.