12 MILES WEST OF RIVER

New Zealand Herald, Volume 82, Issue 25180, 18 April 1945, Page 7

12 MILES WEST OF RIVER

MOSCOW MAINTAINS OFFICIAL SILENCE (Received April 17, 11.20 p.m.) LONDON, April 17 Moscow sources are maintaining an official silence on developments on the Oder River front opposite Berlin, about which German sources are giving a succession of detailed reports. One German report says the Russians now hold a 20-mile bridgehead west of the Oder directly opposite Berlin. The German radio today reports strong Russian thrusts at Frankfurt and Furstenberg and admits local penetrations. The radio also reports advances from the bridgeheads at Lebus and Kienitz, opposite Berlin. A Berlin military spokesman says that the Red Army has pushed 1 2 miles west of the Oder klong the main Kustrin-Berlin railway to the Seelow area. The spokesman said: "The Russians occupied the heights of Seelow, thereby linking up their bridgeheads across the Oder between Kienitz and Lebus." German military commentators say that the main Russian attacks are along a front between Kustrin and Furstenwalde. They also say that the Russians are using airborne forces. One Berlin report says the Red Army is only 28 miles from the capital. The German news agency's war reporter says that the Russian barrage, opening the new Red Army offensive on the Oder front, can be heard in Berlin's eastern suburbs. The German news agency says that the Russians have succeeded in building up a bridgehead across the lower Oder near Schwedt, 30 miles south of Stettin. Violent fighting is raging. It also states that the centres of gravity for the central 9ffensive are north of Kustrin and between Forst and Muskau. "The Eastern Front," the agency added, "is aflame again." Unofficial reports received in Moscow state that the Red Army is making steady progress east of Berlin, says Reuter'a correspondent. The Russian public is eagerly awaiting an official announcement of the new offensive.