The Nelson Evening Mail THURSDAY, MARCH 11, 1943 KHARKOV AGAIN IN DISPUTE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 78, 11 March 1943, Page 4

The Nelson Evening Mail THURSDAY, MARCH 11, 1943 KHARKOV AGAIN IN DISPUTE

AN almost perfect piece of strategical timing allowed the Russians to release their offensive on the central sector when the thaw and stiffer opposition checked progress in the south. Since then Soviet communiques have not been very communicative about what is happening in the Donetz basin. It now transpires that the Germans have been exerting intense pressure, have recaptured eight places west of the Donetz and are still striving desperately to retake Kharkov. The extent of German recovery is considerable, stretching to a depth of about 100 miles on a 150-mile front. In Kharkov lies the pivot of the struggle. The Russians have been outnumbered by the enemy concentration on this limited front, their winter fighting superiority has been neutralised by the muddy ground consequent on the exceptionally early thaw’ and they are now battling hard to keep the line of the Donetz intact. Heavy losses have been inflicted on the Germans and the Russians have apparently maintained silence until their position was probably past the crisis, but Kharkov is not yet out of danger.

As a military operation the Soviet recapture of this great Ukrainian bastion was a classic. The Germans got a rude shock. They threw in some of their crack formations in a vain endeavour to stem the Russian onslaught and then had to leave much sooner than anticipated. It is not surprising that they are now prepared to make another determined bid for its possession, for whoever holds Kharkov holds the key to the Ukraine. This latest counter suggests strongly that the Nazi military minds are once more in charge on the Eastern front and that they are trying to plug some of the huge holes made in the German defence line during the period “General” Hitler was in command. Much of the damage done to their communications spine appears irreparable, yet, if they hope to stage another summer offensive in the south, Kharkov is vital to them as a railway junction, as a supply base and as the pivot of field operations. Thus what happens there now may well decide the future of the Russian war on the southern front. If the Germans could regain possession and at the same time push the Russians back from the Dnieper bend they might hope to establish a set-up more favourable for another dry ground offensive than was thought likely when the Russians were forging ahead so magnificently. In the centre Timoshenko’s offensive is developing very promisingly. Should he be able to drive as far as Smolensk then a further communications system will be threatened and this could well take much of the sting out of the German Ukrainian counter-stroke. Russian reports admitting a set-back in the south do not tally with reports from neutral quarters that the fall of Kharkov is imminent. It looks as though the situation has stabilised during the past few days and that the German two-pronged drive against the great city has at least been warded off. It is the kind of come-back we must expect the Germans to stage in more sectors than Kharkov while absence of a second front enables them to switch reserves quickly from one place to another, following their favourite concentration technique. To gain the full fruits of their astonishing winter offensive the Russians will need to maintain their hold on Kharkov.