CONFLICTING RUSSIAN AND GERMAN REPORTS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 85, Issue 190, 14 August 1941, Page 5

CONFLICTING RUSSIAN AND GERMAN REPORTS

ODESSA SAID TO BE ISOLATED

SOVIET COMMUNIQUE SAYS THERE ARE NO FRESH DEVELOPMENTS

London. Aug. 13. To-dav's Russian eoininuniquc repeats the statement in the earlier report that there were no fresh developments in the fighting on the Eastern Front. The Germans, on the other hand, say that the beaten Russian armies are being pursued in their flight to the Black Sea ports, and heavy losses have been inflicted on them. From neutral sources comes news that Marshal Budennys Soviet armies are carrying out a planned and well-organised withdrawal. A Russian communique says nothing of importance occurred on tile fronts yesterday. "Our aircraft, in co-operation with the land forces, dealt blow- to enemy infantry, motorised and mechanised units. Forty-one G'crinan planes were destroyed. We Jost 34. It has been verified that the number of German planes brought down during an air raid on Moscow on Monday night was two. Warships and the air arm of the lied Panner Baltic Fleet destroyed four enemv motor torpedo-boats and two < neinv transports on Friday. The Germans claim to have isolated the Black Sea port of Odessa, having reached the coast above and below it.

The Soviet newspaper Pravda hints that Britain is about to give Russia support on land as will as raiding Germany from the air. The Pravda adds that Soviet military experts predict more sin--.eessful blows against Germany at •sn early date. A Moscow communique claims that Russia has annihilated the 68th German Division after a battle lasting throughout the day. The Moscow radio announced that Marshal Timoshenko personally and victoriously led his troops in one of the fiercest encounters of the war. The enemy, after being heavily reinforced. was holding an advantage, when Marshal Timoshenko shouted: "Forward for the Fatherland," after which a tank unit advanced. Artillery put up a fierce barrage and infantry stormed the German lines. Moscow, Aug. 12.—The radio stated that German planes which attempted to raid Moscow were dispersed by night fighters and anti-aircraft defences. None reached the capital.— U.P.A. London, Aug. 12. Interest in the Russian-German struggle has become increasingly concentrated on the southern Ukraine, where the Germans claim to have reached parts of the Black Sea coast after considerable gains of territory. A military spokesman in Berlin this afternoon said: “The German pursuit of the Russians has partly reached the Black Sea." To-night a spokesman declared: "German artillery dominates the lower course of the River Dnieper below Kiev, for which these reaches are almost useless as a line of communication for the Soviet. Moreover, the few railways in the southern Ukraine are now under the control of German and allied troops, so the whole traffic system is paralysed. The Russians won't be able long to maintain their hold on a small section of the Dnieper bend at present under their control." The British United Press correspondent in Berlin says: Neutrals here believe that the Russians in the Ukraine are carrying out an orderly, large-scale retreat. They emphasise a statement in a Hungarian communique, "Enemy forces untouched by the encirclement movement are retiring on a broad front." The Berlin news agency states that the Russians

attempted to bring their scattered troops to the Black Sea coast and ship them away, and says that lhe Luftwaffe. on August 10. sank six Soviet ships between Odessa and Ochakov. Th* Associated Press of America's Berlin correspondent says that belated reports from the eastern from claim that large Soviet forces cut off and tightly hemmed in the region between Ochakov and Odessa are trying to get away by ships. Claim Dispute I Competent military circles in London consider that the German claim that strong forces are 70 miles from the Black Sea port of Nikolaev are unlikely to be accurate. It is thought that armoured units may have advanced. but there is no evidence that substantial units are there at all. The position is more likely to be a breakthrough by a few armoured vehicles. There are indications that the German pressure in the Ukraine is persisting strongly, and there is no sign of any falling off in this sector. The greatest pressure of the German advance comes from the south-east from Uman rather than from the northwest. It is likely that the Riv.r Dniester has been crossed near thromer of Bessarabia. There is no change in the Smolensk sector, or further north in the Leningrad sector. The German news agency claims that German fighters patrolling in the area around Kiev this morning shot down 27 enemy planes. The Bremen