BIG NEW GAINS Russian Offensives Developed

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 108, 1 February 1943, Page 5

BIG NEW GAINS Russian Offensives Developed

(British Official Wireless and Press Assn.)

(Received January 31, 8.10 p.m.) LONDON, Jan. 30. The Red Army forces pursuing the Germans west of Voronezh are now 45 miles from Kursk and 60 miles from Kharkov, reports Reuter’s Moscow correspondent. The Russians have entirely cleared the Germans from the Province of Voronezh except for isolated groups. The entrapped German divisions are making an effort to break out, but many troops are surrendering in batches that are larger than at any other time since November. The Russian High Command has ordered the extermination of all who do not surrender.

The capture of four important centres is announced in special Russian communiques. They are Tikhoretsk—tlie most important railway junction remaining to the Germans in the Caucasus —the oil centre of Maikop, the railway junction of Kropotkin, and, fourthly, Novo-Oskol, which is 80 miles south-west of Voronezh.

A special communique issued tonight revealed the capture of Tikhoretsk and Maikop. It is very unlikely that the Germans have obtained any oil from the Maikop fields—the smallest of the three Caucasian oil centres— during their six months' tenure. Tikhoretsk lies at the junction of the StalingradKrasnodar and Baku-Rostov lines, and its capture means that possibly half of the territory still held by the Germans south of Rostov is deprived of any rail communications. Large Encirclement. The earlier special communique stated: “A few days ago our troops west of Voronezh launched an offensive against the enemy forces from three directions, 'the north, west and south. Our troops broke strongly-fortified enemy defences on a front of 44 miles, and, developing the offensive, advanced in three days of intense’fighting 25 to 30 miles. Our

troops occupied 200 localities, including Kastornoye (reported yesterday), and the district centre of Zemlyansk. In successfully developing the offensive toward Kastornoye, our troops cut off the retreat of enemy forces to tlie west, and routed seven German infantry divisions. The remainder of the encircled enemy units are surrounded by a strong ring, and are being mopped up east of Kastornoye. “In three days’ fighting in this area, a large number of the enemy were taken prisoner. According to incomplete figures, our troops captured 107 tanks, 340 guns, 264 machineguns, 8000 rifles,

40 radio transmitters, 1217 lorries, and 24 laden trains. The enemy lost 12,000 men killed in three days. “The break-through was . carried out under the command of Reiteo, and Colonel-General Golikov. “On January 29 Soviet troops on the western front, by a decisive attack, occupied the town and railway station of Novo Oskol. 'Our troops completed the annihilation of an Italian alpine corpse In addition to the previous reports, 11,000 Italian troops have been taken prisoner,including three divisional commanders. The number of prisoners taken in this sector of the front to January 28 totals 86,000.” German Blunder ‘‘Soviet troops in the northern Caucasus, after stubborn fighting, occupied the town and railway station of Kropotkin.” A supplement to the Russian morning communique stated that in an area nearer to the central part of Stalingrad the Russians cleared the enemy from one block of buildings after another. South of Lake Ladoga, 28 German planes were destroyed by Russian fighters and anti-air-craft fire. . ... The latest news of the Russian fighting suggests that it will be only a short time before the whole of the important railway from Moscow, to Valuiki is in Russian hands, while the German position in the Caucasus is becoming very precarious. It is now clear that the Germans have not only suffered from Hitler’s intuitions, but also from over-confidence, one result of which has been the piling up of stores very far forward, which are now wholly lost to the enemy in the disaster which has befallen them. With the capture of Kastornoye last week, the Russians reached approximately the area which they held in December, 1941, and have gained vantage ground for a direct drive against Kursk. Berlin radio yesterday announced that General Reuss, commander of the German forces in the Don Bend, was killed in action. It was reported yesterday that heavy fighting continued south-east of Leningrad, where the Germans had rushed up strong reinforcements in an effort to recapture Sinyavino. They counter-attack-ed furiously in the last 10 days, supported by the Luftwaffe, resulting in many air battles, in which 14 German planes were shot down on Thursday.

LATEST CAPTURES

LONDON, January 31. As January draws to its close the Russians are keeping up the offensives which have cost Hitler more men and material than in any previous month of, the war. In the operations last night 3200 more prisoners were taken. Thirty-three miles west of Voronezh the Russians have captured Nizhne Devitsk railway station. They have also taken Chernianka, 25 miles south of Stary Oshol. In the Caucasus, where the Germans are faced with disaster, the noose is tightening. The Red Army taken Thilisk, 30 miles south-east of Kropotkin, and Malorossisk, 25 miles southeast of Tikhoretsk. The Maikop oilfields, which have been recaptured, had a normal output of 2,500,000 tons a year of high-quality oil.