REPORTED FALL OF KIEV

Waikato Times, Volume 129, Issue 21532, 22 September 1941, Page 4

REPORTED FALL OF KIEV

After three months of perhaps the most bloody sacrifice of human lives in history the Germans have apparently succeeded in gaining one of the three major objectives in the first stage of the war against Russia. Kiev, the beautiful and industrially utilitarian capital of the Ukraine, has been entered by the Nazis, but the full story of the siege has not yet been told. Even if the Nazi flag floats from the citadel the Germans will have to pay a still heavier price before they can claim the complete subjugation of the city. When it was announced that the German pincers had closed behind Kiev it was realised that the defenders were in a precarious position. The effective German front will now perhaps move substantially eastwards across the Dnieper, but the fall of Kiev need not by any means indicate the defeat of the Russians in the Ukraine. If they can keep their main forces intact in their retreat, the Germans will be drawn farther and farther into dangerous country to face a winter of unknown perils. Unfortunately, with Kiev the Russians will lose many factories which have been producing war materials, and in addition Kiev may be regarded by the Germans as a valuable prize as it will afford winter quarters in an advanced position in territory where the “scorched earth” policy had left for the most part a desolate waste. If Germany has won a city she has paid a terrible price for it and the effort cannot fail to have weakened the Nazi striking power. Presumably large numbers of German troops which were investing Kiev will soon be released for the attack on Odessa on the Black Sea and on the Crimean Peninsula. Odessa is said to be surrounded but is defending itself magnificently. The Germans have swept on along the coast to the neck of land that connects the Crimea with the mainland, but they still have a stem struggle before them. The Crimea in the past has shown that it can defend itself effectively. It is possible that the Germans will attempt to press on without waiting to reduce Odessa and the Crimea, since the High Command has promised the German people that the Caucasus will be reached before the winter sets in. In this connection it is interesting to learn that scores of ships are on their way to the Persian Gulf with war supplies for Russia which can be transported into the Caucasus, and which may largely offset the loss of the industries of Kiev.