SIEGE OF SEBASTOPOL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24945, 18 June 1942, Page 3

SIEGE OF SEBASTOPOL

SLIGHT ENEMY GAINS COSTLY ATTACKS AT KHARKOV (Rec. 9.15 p.m.) LONDON, June 16. The Sebastopol defences are still intact except for a small sector near the Belbek River mouth, at the northern seaward end of the Russian-held arc, where the fighting has been fierce for the past two days. Enemy pressure is increasing generally, with the result that the strain imposed on the garrison surpasses anything the Russians have experienced since the Smolensk battles of last year. The German dent from the direction of the Belbek River to the south along the Eupatoria-Sebastopol road, has apparently been forced to within five miles of Sebastopol's heart. The Germans admit fierce counter-attacks and shelling by Russian warships against the forces in the region of Eupatoria. The German offensive on the Kharkov front is described as a " meat mincer" for German reserves. The Germans have been reinforced by armoured divisions, but the Russian defences have not been reached, and the enemy casualties have been enormous. Counterattacking, the Russians broke the enemy resistance at some points and occupied more favourable positions. The Germans admitted an attempt by the Russians at a night landing on the Kerch Peninsula on Monday, claiming that the batteries turned back five boats and sank a sixth. The Germans also stated that a Russian party which crossed the Donetz-Kharkov region had been encircled.

On the Bryansk, central, Volkov, and Leningrad fronts there have been more sporadic flare-ups, both sides claiming local successes.

The Russians report that during the fighting at Sebastopol yesterday 40 tanks were destroyed and four battalions of infantry were wiped out. The Germans are using guns of bigger calibre than the Big Bertha, which shelled Paris in the last war. They have concentrated seven artillery regiments against a narrow sector in an attempt to drive a hole into the central defences.