NAZIS HEAVILY PUNISHED

Southland Times, Issue 24484, 11 July 1941, Page 5

NAZIS HEAVILY PUNISHED

Thousands Of Dead In

Minsk Area

LONDON, July 9. It is believed in London that the Russians are inflicting the most heavy punishment the Germans have suffered so far during the war. Neutral correspondents in Russia report that in the Minsk area there are thousands of German dead. The special correspondent of the Stockholm newspaper Tidningen reports that in the Minsk sector thousands of Soviet soldiers hidden in the forests are continuing to resist desperately. The difficulty of breaking Soviet resistance in this sector is causing astonishment to the German military authorities. The Germans are preparing the public for heavy losses. Prisoners taken by the Russians in the central sector admitted that they had recently been brought from the Western Front to take part in the Russian offensive. The German communiques contain only this reference to the Russo-Ger-man war: “Fighting is progressing satisfactorily along the entire Eastern Front.”

The Berlin News Agency, however, says that the Germans frustrated Russian attempts to penetrate the new defences in Estonia and that the Germans have occupied Ostrov, Fellin and Parnu. German and Rumanian units, it says,

repulsed strong Russian armoured units which counter-attacked on the Bessarabian front. The Germans here not only pushed back the enemy but also made a considerable territorial gain. RAID ON HELSINKI It is reported from Helsinki that Soviet planes heavily raided Helsinki in the early morning. There were many fires and severe damage was done to many of the streets, which are blocked by wreckage. A Zurich message reports that Hungarian troops occupying Eastern Galicia found the greatest destruction in all the districts the Russians had evacuated. All foodstuffs had been destroyed and the populations were facing famine. The latest Russian communique contains much more detail. It says: “During Tuesday night large-scale fighting took place in the Polotsk, Lepel and Novograd-Volynsk sectors. In the Satrov sector Soviet troops strengthened the positions occupied by them and carried out intensified night reconnaissance. Towards the end of Tuesday fighting developed in the direction of Sebesh, where enemy tank and infantry' units endeavoured to break through to the east. The fighting is continuing. “In the direction of Lepel Russian troops delivered a blow at the enemy, smashing two motorized regiments. They destroyed four heavy and light batteries as well as considerable quantities of anti-tank weapons. Hundreds of bodies were left on the battlefield when the Germans withdrew. “In the direction of NovogradVolynsk, Russian troops continue to wage continuous and stubborn battles against enemy tanks and motorized units, counteracting their advance to the east. In other sectors there were no large-scale operations during the night. “The Red Air Force has delivered blows against the mechanized units of

the enemy in the Ostrov, Lepel and Novograd-Volynsk sectors and against German aviation on German aerodromes. In the night operations against German aerodromes and in air battles on Tuesday night the Red Air Force destroyed 62 enemy planes in the Lepel, Borisov and Bobruisk sectors alone, losing seven of its own planes. According to the verified data the Red Air Force destroyed 102 enemy planes on July 8, losing 10.”