WAR AND FAMINE

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVII, Issue 10851, 17 March 1921, Page 5

WAR AND FAMINE

RUSSIAN REVOLT SPREADS TERRIBLE MASSACRES IN MOSCOW PRISONS. REBEL FORCES STRENGTHENED. By Telegraph—Press Assn. —Copyright Australian anti K /.■ Cable Association. LONDON, March 15. The latest Russian massages state that the revolt is spreading. Peasants are flocking to the rebel standard in large numbers over a wide area. A Riga col-respondent- advises that there Have been risings in many parts of Siberia. The railway has been cut, and food supplies to Russia h3ve been cut off.

A Helsingfors correspondent states that thousands of rebellious workers and soldiers have joined Antonov’s revolutionary army, which is operating iu the provinces of Kursk, Voronetz, Tambor, and Rjcsan. Some cavalry divisions have penetrated to the neighbourhood of Moscow. The revolt in the Ukraine is most extensive. The Soviet is sending troops from the Roumanian frontier to Odessa, where the situation is most critical. The garrison has joined the rebels, except two regiments, which are isolated in the outer harbour. Petrograd is famine-stricken. The last food rations were distributed on the 12th. Krasnojagorka is isolated. It is reported that there have been terrible massacres of rebels and their relatives in Moscow prisons. Hundreds were 6hot with machine-guns. A Reuter message from Harbin states that there are reports of an anti-Bolshevik rising at Omsk, which has spread to Krasnoyask and East Siberia simultaneously. Official advices from Paris state that Constantinople records that the insurrectionary movement in the Caucasus is gaining ground. The Don Cossacks have revolted en masse. General Budeny has informed the Soviets that he will be unable to lend assistance against the rebels, because the majority of his regiments are themselves composed of Cossacks. COPENHAGEN, March 15. The Soviet continues arrests in Moscow. Frightful massacres are going on in the prisons, 'the victims being chiefly relatives and friends of rebels at Kronstadt, Petrograd, and Moscow. ATTACK BY CHINESE DEFEATED WITH HEAVY CASUALTIES. (Received March 16, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, March 15. A Helsingfors telegram states that Chinese attempted to storm Kronstadt over the ice on Monday, but were heavily defeated. There were several thousand casualties owing to the gunfire from* the forts. A member of tho_ American Red Cross drov.e over the ice to Kronstadt with food! Tho soldiers refused to touch t-he food and sent it for distribution to hospital patients. The garrison at Kronstadt is now estimated at 50,000. THE REBEL LEADER SOVIET PUTS PRICE ON HIS HEAD. COPENHAGEN, March 15. The Soviet has put a price of five million roubles on the head of General Koslovski, loader of the Kronstadt rebels. IN DEPLORABLE CONDITION WRANGEL’S MEN VERGING ON STARVATION. PARIS, March 15. Russian refugees aboard five of WrangeTs ships lying at Marseilles are in a deplorable condition, and on the verge of starvation. They belong to all classes, and many comprising the crews moved in the best Russian society. All are without money. The French Government is supplying food rations. CRITICAL SITUATION ODESSA GARRISON JOINS THE REBELS. COPENHAGEN, March 15. The SovieUbas ordered its Roumanian frontier troops to return to the Ukraine and Odessa, owing to the extensive rebellion throughout the Ukraine. Tho situation at Odessa is critical. The whole garrison, except two regiments, isolated near the harbours, has joined the rebels. AMERICA'S POLICY LONDON, March 15. Washington learns that President Harding will follow ex-President Wilson’s Russian policy for the present. If the Soviets are overthrown, President Harding may co-operate in the stabilisation of Russia. “ACT OF HOSTILITY” RUSSIA AND TURKEY AT LOGGERHEADS. CONSTANTINOPLE, March 15. There are clear indications that Turko-Russian relations are critical. Both countries are preparing in view of further developments. The Soviet has strongly protested against Turkish occupation of Batoum, stating that it only recognises Bolshevik Georgia, with frontiers defined by the RussoGeorgian Treaty of May, 1920. It regards the encroachment of a third Power as an act of hostility against Russia.