Kirovograd Taken

Timaru Herald, Volume CLV, Issue 22786, 10 January 1944, Page 5

Kirovograd Taken

Germans Outmanoeuvred

Advance Into Poland Continues

By Telegraph—Niw Zealand Press Association—Copyright (Received 10 p.m.) LONDON, January 8.

THE RUSSIAN forces have taken Kirovograd. J An Order of the Day issued by M. Stalin addressed to General Koniev states: “Troops of the Second Ukrainian Front having broken through strong German defences as the result of a skilful bypass manoeuvre, occupied the town of Kirovograd, an important stronghold in the German defence. In four days’ stubborn fighting the Soviet troops have increased the width of their break through to 75 miles and advanced from 19 to 31 miles. In the course of the offensive the Soviet troops routed three enemy tank divisions, one motorised division and four infantry divisions.” The encirclement of Kirovograd was the result of a lightning switch over from the defensive to the offensive by General Koniev, states a Moscow message. Until the beginning of the New Year, the Germans had the initiative in this sector, attacking with 100 tanks at a time in an effort to recapture Snamenka. General Koniev let the Germans disperse their exhausted forces and then hit back, his offensive opening on Wednesday. Sunken roads, woods and gullies enabled General Koniev to take up his initial positions in secrecy, completely baffling enemy reconnaissance, while groups of tanks and motorcycles daily ambushed enemy reinforcements in the area.

The offensive began with a storm of artillery fire which blasted great gaps in the German defences. Soviet tanks then rushed through the gaps and intersected the system of roads which connected the numerous German strongholds in the area. After this the Soviet main forces were able to increase their pressure on the German flank and widen the breach. Scores of local German garrisons were surrounded and wiped out in the first few hours. An avalanche of guns, tanks and infantry rolled down from the area of Snamenka to the eastern approaches to Kirovograd, swung west and by-passed the city from the north and south. Other troops who had been placed in position nearer Kirovograd then crossed River Ingul and cut off the German escape routes to the west.

The linking up of the First Ukrainian Troops with those holding the Dnieper bridgehead at Bukrinsky, south-west of Pereyaslavl, was effected after General Vatutin’s forces had occupied Zhyshchev, south of Kiev, states the Soviet supplementary communique.

In the break through in the Kirovograd sector Second Ukranian Troops, after crossing the Ingul. occupied the locality of Gruznoye and cut the railway line from Kirovograd to Novoukrania. Others occupied the railway station of Lelekovka, and to the south of this railway station joined the troops advancing from the south-west, thus the Russian troops completely encircled Kirovograd as well as the German units defending the town. Enemy formations outside the town have been routed and are abandoning arms and war material. A large number of prisoners have been captured. A Major German Blunder In none of its offensives so far has the Red Army possessed in its immediate rear such a good network of communications as it has gained in the Ukraine where, in the capricious winter, cross-country operations are highly dangerous, states the Moscow correspondent of "The Times.” The Red Army is benefiting from what is apparently a major Garman blunder—the concentration of armour at Jitomir and the subsequent retreat west away from the southern sectors where so much is now needed. A Reuter correspondent states that he has not met a Russian who can remember such freak weather with days of thaw in January, which is generally the middle of the severe winter, but it is an ill Wind that blows nobody any good. The thaws are revealing land mines which the Germans had hidden under the snow, making the Red Army sappers’ work easier. The Official German News Agency’s commentator stated that the Russians had resumed the attack against Kirovograd and forced the Germans to withdraw in the south-east sector in nositions on the west bank of the Ingul River, also between Berdichev and the Teterev River. The German formations had retired to prepared positions in order to escape the incessant hail of fire, thereby abondoning Yanushpol. The Red Army has fully established its position in Poland. General Vatutin's forces, along an 80-mile front, from a point beyond Rokitno to Polonnoye, 50 miles north-west of Berdichev. are accelerating their advance toward the Polish Ukraine and are closing in on Sarny and Rovno. Defences Crumbling The Moscow correspondent of the British United Press declares that the whole of the German frontier defences as far to the south-west as Ostrog, nearly 80 miles from the original Russian break-through west of Olevsk, are crumbling under the Russian blows. He adds that there is little doubt that General Vatutin is approaching the stage in his campaign where he hopes to deliver decisive, strategic blows. Reuter’s correspondent states that according to front line reports, General Vatutin’s army is advancing like an avalanche. The spearhead which captures Rokitno is now approaching Sarmy. The speed and power of the Russian advance is bringing increasing disorder in the ranks of Marshal von Mannstein’s defeated army. Tire Germans are retreating hurriedly toward Shepetovka Some German divisional staffs are changing the position of their headquarters twice daily, while units are becoming isolated and out of touch with those which are supposed to be supporting their flanks. A German military spokesman said that the German and Russian armies were poised for decisive battles. “It is undeniable that the German armies are experiencing a serious strain. We make no attempt to disguise the fact that we have suffered reverses in these gigantic winter battles," he said. The Writing on the Wall There is no doubt in Berlin that the present battles in Russia are the decisive round, and the European war will unquestionably be decided on the eastern front, not by bombing, nor in Italy, nor by invasion from the west, says the German News Agency. The Soviet attacks have now assumed the character of a general offensive which German military circles view as an all-out effort to smash the German eastern front. Reports reaching Berlin in the last 24 hours indicate no slackening in the fury of the Soviet offensive, particularly in the Dnieper Bend. "The German armies must now be prepared not merely to fight a steady retreat but must withdraw from and abandon whole countries," the Wilhelnjstrasse spokesman told neutral correspondents. “It is now a question which countries the German forces should give up to carry out essential plan* lor German defence. We have to remember that we must keep at least 100 divisions ready for an Allied invasion in the west. The next 10 days will show whether it is worth while to abandon our positions on the Dnieper altogether to shorten the front.” Facing Catastrophe The German front, from the Upper Bug River to the Eastern Dnieper Bend, is collapsing like a house of cards Moscow correspondents say

that thousands of German troops face catastrophe on an unprecedented scale. The elimination of Kirovograd has opened up the sluice gates and the Red Army is streaming through the gap toward the important rail centre of Novo Ukroinka and the Bug River. The escape gap still remaining to the at Krivoi Rog and Nikopol is narrowing every hour.

The German News Agency’s military commentator says the German lines in the Dnieper Bend have been withfftCe Russian offensive. Battles of unparalleled ferocity are are going on. The fall of Kirovograd, the kingpin of Marshal von Mannstein’s Dnieper Bend line 40 miles south-west of Symela, marks the beginning of the en .d. in the Dnieper Bend, says Reuter's military correspondent. The Red Army’s wide advance carries the Russians well forward against the flank of the German forces remaining in the Krivoi Rog and Nikopol sectors. It is clear that a complete withdrawal cannot long be delayed if the Germans there are to avoid encirclement. Observers in Moscow believe that the Red Army is strong enough to maintain the vigour of the present campaign and begin a new one when the time is opportune.

Closing Escape Routes Russian tank columns are lunging forward to close the routes the Germans are relying on for escape from the areas they are holding north-east of the Dnieper Bend, reports the Moscow correspondent of the British United Press. Russian advance guards are pushing on nearly 25 miles southwest of Kirovograd and other columns are driving west from Cherkasy to cut across the base of the deep German salient around Kanev. General Koniev’s tanks further south continue to press back the German lines guarding Symela. Meanwhile, General Vatutin’s men, far to the west from these battles, of the Dnieper Bend, are closing on Vinnitsa. The capture of Vinnitsa will release units to strengthen the Russian drive against Jmerinka, one of the German’s major supply bases behind the Bug River and on the approaches to the Balkans.

Russian mechanised artillery is streaming west on all roads in the Klesov area, says “Izvestia.” The people of the Rovno region are welcoming the Russians and extending hospitality to them. Smashed German tanks and guns are piled everywhere in heaps of junk. Thousands of dead are scattered across the field where the battles were fought. The Russians Inflicted heavy casualties on the Germans here, also south-west of Novograd Volinsk. The Germans west of Snamenka squandered their reserves in useless counter-attacks, sometimes using as many as 100 tanks in a narrow sector.

The Stockholm correspondent of the Associated American Press states that dispatches from Swedish correspondents in Berlin give prominence to the German High Command spokesman’s most recent declaration that the Russians general offensive is constantly increasing in force on a widening front. The spokesman emphasised that the Germans were hampered in meeting the Russian offensive because invasion was threatened from Britain, pinning down in the west many divisions which otherwise would be fiung in to check the Russians. “Invasion from the west may follow the opening of this Russian offensive. We therefore are able to use reserves in the east only to the extent that the situation in the west permits.”