CELEBRATING THE CAPTURE OF KHARKOV

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 87, Issue 200, 25 August 1943, Page 5

CELEBRATING THE CAPTURE OF KHARKOV

REJOICING IN MOSCOW UKRAINE OPEN TO RUSSIANS ADVANCE SWEEPS TO WESTWARD i By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright) Reed. 7.30 p.m. London, Aug. 23. To-night the guns of Moscow are thundering forth again in celebration of a great victory. Salvo upon salvo is crashing out in honour of the fall of Kharkov, the fourth city of Russia. The tremendous salvos were relayed by wireless to the whole country, and for fixe minutes the 200 victory guns were heard in every town and village throughout Russia, the salute of the guns was preceded by Marshal Stalin’s special Order of the Day announcing the victory. This began: To-day the troeps of the steppe front, with active support on the flanks by troops of the Vornezh and southwestern fronts, broke down the enemy resistance after fierce battles and took the city of Kharkov by storm. Thus, the second capital of the Ukraine, our beloved Kharkov, is liberated from the yoke of the German scoundrels. ” The Order of the Day announced that 10 divisions which took part in the battle for the city will in future be called “the Kharkov divisions.” Marshal Stalin thanked his troops for their exemplary fighting, and ended with the words. •’Eternal glory to all who fell in lighting for our freedom and independence I D<::ta to the German invaders!”

Reuter’s military correspondent says that the fall of Kharkov gravely endangers all the German forces east of the Dnieper. The Russians, with Kharkov in their hands, are now free to thrust to - Krasnograd, while their right wing continues its pressure against Poltava. The news that Kharkov fell to a direct assault by the Red Army has given the lie to what the Germans have been saying. Their first claim was that their troops made an orderly evacuation last night, getting away without being discovered or hampered by the Russians after destroying everything of importance in the city. Then followed the well-known German trick of playing down the defeat. One after another the German military commentators piped the familiar tune: “Kharkov is of no great importance. . . . The Germans could have held on to the citv if thev had wanted to. ... Bv its ’fall the’ German line is shortened and strengthened.” and much more in the same strain. . But the fact remains that the Russians hold Kharkov again. Although most of its great war industries were transferred to the Urals before the Germans first captured it in 1941, the city is still of the most importance as a traffic centre. It is the biggest railway junction in the whole of south Russia, but what is more significant, its capture means that the whole of the Ukraine stretching to the Dneiper River is now open -to the Red Army. A late report Quotes the newest Moscow cornmunioue as announcing a marked development of the Russian offensive in the Donetz Basin. In three days' fighting south-west of Voroshilovgrad Soviet troops have advanced from 20 to 23 miles and have occupied more than .30 places, including a town 65 miles to the south-west of Voroshilovgrad, and standing on the main railway leading down to Tanzanrog on the Sea of Azov. "The Russians found Kharkov a flaming ruin," says the British United Press Moscow correspondent. "German demolition squads systematically dynamited streets and buildings. Incendiaries were used to set fire to houses. Ruins of devastated buildings lay across the roads, which were pitted with craters. Kharkov is a ruined city, but in Russian hands it aids the drive against the German Dnieper Line.” “Gaily-coloured flares, balls of fire, signal rockets and Verey lights blazed in the sky over Moscow to-night in celebration of the recapture of Kharkov,” says Reuter's Moscow correspondent. “Lights formed vast arches over the Kremin. in the Red Square and other city centres. Booming salvoes from the garrison's heavy guns provided an impressive background to the city's celebration. Cheering Muscovites crowded the streets.” London listeners heard a broadcast of Moscow's 224-gun salute. A Red Army choir sang victory songs and there was a special concert oi Ukrainian music. Moscow radio repeated Stalin's Order of the Day four times.