GERMAN THRUST HELD

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 26 August 1941, Page 5

GERMAN THRUST HELD

SOVIET COUNTER-ATTACK Fighting in Central Sector BATTLE OF THE DNIEPER BEGUN London, Aug. 25. A Moscow communique states that the Russian troops fought stubbornly last night in the directions of Kakisalrni (at the northeastern end of I'inland s old Mannerheim Line), Novgorod (100 miles south of Leningrad) and Dnepropetrovsk (one of the Ukraine’s great industrial centres, in the bend of the Dnieper River). Ihe battle of the Dnieper seems to have begun in earnest. Ihe Germans in the southern Ukraine have nowhere passed the barrier of this river. Round Odessa the Germans continue to sacrifice thousands of Rumanians' lives in the great battle for the Black Sea port. Ihe “Daily ’I elegraphV’ Stockholm correspondent said that General Koniev’s forces have checked the German thrust against the junction of the armies of Marshal I imoshenko and Marshal Budenny east of Gomel. Ihe Germans are sparing no effort to close the gaps made by General Koniev's forces, and German tanks and motorised units yesterday were hurled against the recaptured positions, but were driven back by artillery fire. Last night General Koniev ordered his tanks to charge the last wave of the German tanks from which the crews jumped and fled. Over 70 tanks were destroyed and 700 officers and men were killed. Strong support was given by Russian aircraft. To-day General Koniev continued to develop his big counterattack, and the latest messages from Stockholm say that these operations are taking place round Smolensk and Gomel, cities 175 miles apart, and have the double purpose of relieving the drives on Leningrad and Kiev. Ihe Moscow “Red Star says that the communications between Leningrad and Moscow are functioning efficiently, and the railways are carrying troops and arms to the front with the usual regularity.