MOSCOW SAFE

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20635, 10 December 1941, Page 5

MOSCOW SAFE

STAND THIS YEAR NAZI ADMISSION GRIM SOVIET WINTER DARING RUSSIAN RAID (Elec. Tel. Copyright— United Press Assn.) (British Official Wireless.) Reed. 11.30 a.m. RUGBY, Dec. 9. Most of the recent reports from the eastern front, which indicate Russian counter-attacks, both north and south of Moscow, are meeting with certain success, would also appear to bear out the statements contained in the German High Command communique yesterday that fighting in the east was dependent on the setting in of the Russian winter. The German High Command communique to-day says that only local attacks are proceeding on the eastern front. Certain details of the wintry Russian conditions which, together with the magnificent Russian resistance, is putting an end to the German offensive have reached London. The temperature in Moscow is minus 20 degrees centigrade, that at Penza and between Moscow and Kuibyshev, minus 31 degrees centigrade. In the Moscow area there is from 6in. to 9in. of snow. German air activity also appears to have been restricted by the weather recently, and there are very small signs of the recent air attacks in Moscow, where life is reported to be proceeding quite normally. Germans Pressed Back

The Moscow radio, quoting the newspaper Pravda, states that the Russians, in a successful counterattack, pressed back the Germans in the most important sectors in the Tula direction. The Germans lost heavily and left the bodies of over 500 officers and soldiers in one area alone. A German communique stated that the continuation of operations on the eastern front has now been determined by the start of the Russian winter. Only local actions are occurring on wide areas of the front. The military" spokesman in Berlin, referring to the communique, said the German Army did not expect to capture Moscow this year. He added:

“The cold on the eastern front is so terrible that oil freezes in the motorised vehicles and soldiers trying to take cover simply freeze to the ground. Fighting under these conditions is practically impossible, but this does not mean the front has become stagnant or fixed.” The spokesman claimed that Taganrog is still in German hands.

Non-Freezing Mixtures

The Stockholm correspondent of The Times says: “Possibly there is a connection between the German complaints about the cold freezing the motors on the eastern front and the news that all the available non-freez-ing mixtures under private ownership have been sequestrated in. the greater part of Germany. The Stockholm correspondent of the Daily Express reports a daring raid by Russian warships. Coming from Sebastopol, the Russian battleship Pariskayakommuna, escorted by three cruisers and several destroyers, made a lightning raid along the shores of the Sea of Azov and caused panic among General von Kleist’s retreating troops. The raid greatly surprised the Germans who never supposed the Russians were bold enough to send ships through the Kerch Strait, the western side of which is dominated by German guns. With her 12in. guns, the battleship shelled the road between Taganrog and Mariupol which skirts the shores of the Sea of Azov, after which the warships turned west and bombarded Mariupol for 15 minutes, destroying most of the fortified positions which the Germans had built around Mariupol. After the raid the warships, without loss, returned to Sebastopol. Russian fighters helped to beat off the German bombers. The Swiss radio announced that the Finns had captured Povyenets.

The Tass news agency says that Soviet submarine sank a 3500-ton loaded ! German transport in the Baltic. '