BLACK SEA BID

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20632, 13 August 1941, Page 6

BLACK SEA BID

GERMAN PRESSURE CLAIMS DOUBTED BIG TERRITORIAL GAINS DEFENDERS CUT OFF (Elcc. Tel. Copyright—United Press Assn.) (Reed. Aug. 13, 2.40 p.m.) LONDON, Aug. 12. Interest In the Russian-German struggle has increasingly concentrated in the southern Ukraine, where the Germans claim to have reached parts of the Black Sea coast after considerable gains of territory. The military spokesman in Berlin this afternoon said: “The German pursuit of the Russians has partly reached the Black Sea.” To-night the spokesman declared that German artillery dominated the lower course of the Dnieper below Kiev, for which these reaches are almost useless as a line of communication for the Soviet forces. Moreover, the few railways in the southern Ukraine were now under the control of German and allied troops, so the whole traffic system had been paralysed. “The Russians will not be able for long to maintain their hold on the small section of the Dnieper bend at present under their control,” declared the German spokesman. The Berlin correspondent of the Associated Press of Great Britain says that belated reports from the eastern front claim that large Soviet forces, cut off and tightly hemmed in in the region between Ochakov and Odessa, and trying to get away by ships. Unlikely To Be Accurate Competent military circles in London consider that the German -Maim that strong forces are 70 miles from the Black Sea port of Nikolasv is unlikely to be accurate. It js thought that armoured units may have advanced, but there is no evidence that substantial units are there at all. The position is more likely to be a break-through by a few armoured vehicles. There are indications that the German pressure in the Ukraine is persisting strongly and there ,s no sign of any falling off in this sector. The greatest pressure of the German advance comes from the south-east, from Uman, rather than the northwest. It is likely that the River Dniester has been crossed near the corner of Bessarabia. The German news agency claims that German fighters patrolling the area around Kiev this morning shot down 27 enemy planes. The Bremen radio announced that during the Luftwaffe attacks against Ochakov yesterday the Germans sank thijee small ships and damaged one. Orderly Retreat The Berlin correspondent of the British United Press states that neutrals there believe the Russians in the Ukraine are carrying out an orderly large-scale retreat. They emphasise the statement in a Hungarian communique: “The enemy forces untouched by the encirclement movement are retiring on a broad front.” The. Berlin news agency states that the Russians are attempting to bring their scattered troops to the Black Sea coast and ship them away. The Luftwaffe on August 10 sank six Soviet ships between Odessa and Ochakov. A correspondent of The Times oh the German frontier referring to the fact that no fighting has far been reported from Odessa, points out its reputedly almost impregnable fortifications are on similar principles to those of Tobruk. The British United Press Moscow correspondent says that/ private reports indicate that the Russians threw the Germans back for some distance in the Smolensk sector.