IMPORTANT TOWNS TAKEN

Waikato Times, Volume 132, Issue 22136, 7 September 1943, Page 3

IMPORTANT TOWNS TAKEN

RUSSIANS SWEEP GERMANS OUT ♦ ENEMY EVACUATION OF STALINO BEGUN WILL BE OUT OF DONETZ BASIN SOON (United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) (Received Sept. 7, noon) LONDON, September 6 The Red Army broom continues to sween the Germans from long-held positions in the Donetz Basin and with a continuance of the present rate of Russian advance the Germans will be out of the Donetz Basin in a few days, says the Stockholm correspondent of the Times. Tonight’s Soviet communique records the capture of the town and railway junction of Kamatorskaya and the town of Slavyansk. In this Donetz Basin offensive the Russians have advanced from 9 to 15 miles and have occupied over 100 inhabited localities. In the Bakhmach direction the Russians had advanced from 6 to 13 miles and accupied over 100 inhabited localities, including the large railway junction town of Konotop. The communique adds that the Russians south of Briansk advanced from 9 to 12 miles and occupied over 90 inhabited localities, including several large centres. The Russians west and south-west of Kharkov fought offensive engagements and occupied several inhabited localities, considerably improving their positions. In the Smolensk direction the Russians fought engagements for the improvement of their positions. The Tass Agency reports that one group of Russian troops is three miles east of Stalino. A report from Berne says that the Germans have begun to evacuate Stalino.

Offensive Over Whole Front The Berlin radio’s commentator, Captain Sertorius, says: Powerful Russian forces continued their offensive during the week-end over the whole front from the Sea of Azov to the Moscow-Smolensk railway. The Germans still further applied the strategy of elastic defence, meaning ground re-yielded, but the enemy was prevented from widening his gains into a large-scale operational break-through. The German High Command is facing further developments with optimistic calm despite the tension at certain points of the front. The High Command still appreciates the advantage of being able to operate in depth and yield ground while conserving troops. Finally the High Command is looking forward to the winter. The autumn rains in a few weeks will bring mud, which will either slow down or completely stop enemy movements. It can be assumed that after the experiences of the heavy winter battles of the past two years all necessary measures for the supply of winter clothes and equipment and for the establishment of a winter line have been carefully taken. May Bypass Mariupol The Stockholm correspondent of the Times says the Russians toward the southern end of the line are already on the Kilmius River and threaten to bypass Mariupol as they did Taganrog. The Russian progress in the Isyum sector has been slow recently, but there are signs now of activity increasing in the direction of the LosoVaya-Slavyansk railway. The Germans are defending the line with cast-iron firmness as an important retreat route from the Donetz Basin, but Slavyansk and Kramatorskaya have now been captured. The Germans nearer Kharkov are trying with equal stubbornness to keep the line open. The Russians have’ advanced slowly from Merefa and a desperate struggle now centres near Valki. The Moscow radio announced that railway communication between Moscow and Kharkov has been reestablished and the first through train has arrived at Kharkov. Over half the Don Basin has been liberated from the Nazis, including the entire Voroshilovgrad region, and the Red Army is now nearing the approaches to Stalino, says a Moscow message. According to the military observer of the Soviet News Agency one Soviet group is only three miles east of the city. Menace on Leningrad Front Reuter says that Tuga Bay is 85 miles behind the German front line on the Leningrad front. Russian troops landed there would be within striking distance of the west-east railway from Tallinin, which is a supply centre for the Germans in the Leningrad area.