LENINGRAD AREA

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24838, 11 February 1942, Page 5

LENINGRAD AREA

HEAVY FIGHTING RUSSIAN PRESSURE ADVANCES OH ALL FRONTS (Rec. 9 p.m.) LONDON, Feb. 9.. neporis oi operations on tne Russian front reveal tnat activity has increased in me area trom Lake iimen to Lalte liaaoga. tSotn sides report that heavy ngnung has liared up in the Leningiaa province. The Russian activity beems to comprise a determined thrust against Snlus&eihurg, which is situated soutn-east of Leningrad, and also a strung drive from tne Volkhov front in a north-westerly direction, roughly along the Moscow-Leningrad railway. The Russians at Lake Ladoga appear to have made definite inroads in the Shlusselburg zone, which hitherto has defied all efforts to penetrate it, and Russian tanks, cavalry, artillery and infantry from the rear are holding positions deep in the German lines and continuing to advance westward. Finnish reports say that the Leningrad garrison is attempting to break through the German positions from the inside. The Germans admit that heavy Russian attacks are taking place in areas north-east of Lake Ilmen, which is 100 miles south of Leningrad. Advances on Smolensk Sector

Further advances Dy the Red Army in tne bmoiensK area are ciauneu ia the Moscow communique. At one place tne xtussians claim to have cut tne road Detween two places of great strategic importance. general 2ihuitov's thrust on SmolensK is directed mainiy irom the east and south-east, the communique states. Thirty-eight more towns anu villages have been liberated in the last lew days. In the Ukraine, in spite of the bitter weather, attacks are being made by night and by day on the uerman positions. In the battle around Kharkov 30 more localities nave been freed. There is activity on the other fronts, but the situation is so fluid and the Russian arid German forces so interwoven that it is dangerous for either side to reveal their positions;, by naming places. The Moscow radio says that the Russians on the north-western front in the last few days have liberated. over 30 populated places, and are continuing to advance.

Germans Retreating

The Germans are retreating on the south-western front, the Russians capturing one inhabited locality after another. The low temperatures have made the Sea of Azov and the Straits of Kerch so hard that the Russians are able to bring up supply columns across the ice to Kerch. The Moscow radio claims that the Russian troops > are advancing on the Donelz front, in spite of air German attempts to stem the offensive. ' '■"• ■ ,■■■■ In the Crimea the Germans have lost 40,000 killed and wounded in the fighting around Sebastopol. This announcement was made in Moscow. German newspapers print a map of the front line in the east, which is described as having now been consolidated. It is pointed out in Berlin that the Russian defence is so weakened and the German resistance so strong that no further important • changes may be expected before the German counter-offensive begins. Enemy Using Reserve Gunt The Moscow army newspaper Red Star says: "The enemy losses in artillery have been so vast_ that the Germans are unable to replace them, although they have seized practically all the artillery plants in Europe. Losses of field guns have caused the German High Command to use artillerymen as infantry and to throw into the battle part of the- artillery reserved for the spring offensive." The activities of the many thousands of White Russian guerrillas who,are constantly harassing the enemy rear, and thus rendering valuable assistance to the Red Arrriv. are described by the Moscow radio. As the Russian forces approach White J Russia these guerrillas are intercepting troops going to the front and inflicting heavy losses. -' - ' The Nazis are worried about the activity of partisans, and special punitive detachments., are constantly searching for them. Recently they caught five guerrilla troops. They brought them to the town of Demido vo and hanged them. The inhabitants ,of this town and the neighbouring villages were ordered to be present, the Nazis trying in this way to frighten civilians; but the White Russians are continuing the struggle, and will continue until liberation by the Red Army.. . Submarine's Exploit The Moscow radio reports that a Russian submarine penetrated an enemy harbour in the Arctic and torpedoed, and'sank two transports. The submarine returned to its base. ' The Russian Navy in the first 11 months of the war sank 81 warships and 276 auxiliary vessels, and seriously damaged 59 warships and auxiliary vessels, causing the enemy to. lose many hundreds of tanks and tens of thousands of soldiers. The Vichy radio announced that General.Dietl, who was prominent at Narvik and in Poland, has been appointed commander of the German forces on the Finnish front.