AGAINST SEBASTOPOL

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 188, 8 May 1944, Page 5

AGAINST SEBASTOPOL

Germans Say Big Russian Assault Has Begun (Received May 7, 8.10 p.m.) LONDON, May 6. “The long-awaited Soviet assault against Sebastopol has begun,’’ declares the German news agency. “The Russians are using great masses of heavy guns. They opened the assault with a very powerful drumfire artillery barrage, and simultaneously strong battle-plane formations rained bombs on our defence positions. Then Russian tanks, screening strong infantry formations, went into action.” Tonight’s Moscow communiques say: “On Thursday night the Soviet Air Force sank one enemy transport in the Black Sea and two escorting cutters. Two enemy transports -were heavily damaged. In the area west of Sebastopol Soviet tor-pedo-cutters routed an enemy convoy and by direct torpedo hits sank three transports totalling 7000 tons. “On the land fronts no® material changes took place today. One the previous day 62 enemy planes were destroyed.” Yesterday’s commumeque reported the sinking of five Black Sea transports totalling 13,000 tons by units of the Black Sea Fleet and Air Arm.

Six hundred Hungarian officers and men have given themselves up in the past 10 days on the First Ukrainian Front, says a Russian supplementary communique. According to prisoners’ statements, the Hungarians are strongly opposed to Hitler.