RUSSIANS RACE FORWARD

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 236, 3 July 1944, Page 5

RUSSIANS RACE FORWARD

Deepening Wedges NAZI ADMISSION OF MAJOR BREACH

(Received July 2, 11.10 p.m.) LONDON, July 2. Tremendous Red Army forces have made another surge toward the envelopment of Minsk, the White Russian capita 1 and also in the direction of Dvinsk, the main Latvian railway centre. Two of the drives are making for both railway outlets from Minsk. On Friday the Russians captured Slutsk, to the south, and tanks and mobile guns are now some 30 miles farther west, making Baranowicze. East and north-east of Minsk the Russians crossed the Beresina River on a 75-mile front and yesterday captured Borisov, the last big stronghold before Minsk while f orces pushing far to the west, are 3S miles north of Minsk. These: ar under the command of a leading Russian expert m armoured warIndicating the size of the army used in the Beresina « oss, ”S and storming of Borisov, Marshal Stalin’s order of the day on this victory mentions 25 Russian generals. The order is addressed to Marshal Rokossovsky. Eight thousand Germans were killed at Borisov. An immense German pocket is apparently being formicy. its extremity e of the Beresina between Borisov and Bobruisk and its base at M • In the southern part of this pocket the Russians yesterday took some

12,000 German prisoners, includir Russian motor-cycle storm troops, the Red Army’s fastest units, have joined in the pursuit of the Germans to Minsk. The two railways from Minsk are under continuous attack from Russian air forces on the pattern of the Allied attack on German communications on the western front. Another spearhead, having by-passed Polotsk to the south, is already -0 miles inside the old Polish frontier and is advancing in the direction of the .Latvian At tiie southern end of the offensive front the Russians are advancing along the northern side of the River Pripet, while they already hold the south bank to within 20 miles of Pinsk. . The German news agency s commentator. von Olberg, states: “The overall situation at the front is most tense, lhe German high command has taken all precautious to stein this major breach of our Lakes Ladoga and Onega the Russians continue to push the 1' inns awav from the Leningrad-Murmansk railway and are approaching Salmis, on the north-west shore of Lake Ladoga. Yesterday the Russians captured Kartsalmi, eight miles north of Viborg. SALUTED BY MOSCOW - Occupation Of Borisov (British Official Wireless.) (Received July 2, 7 p.m.) RUGBY, July 1. Moscow has saluted the feat of the Beresina crossing and capture of Borisov with 20 salvoes from 224 guns. A Soviet communique states that m the course of the capture of Borisov the Kus:ians also occupied on this sector alone >0 occupied localities, including the

ng two generals. towns of Begonny and Pleshcanitsy, district centres of the Minsk area, and 10 large industrial localities. The communique also reports that ouring today Soviet troops between Lakes Onega and Ladoga continued to wage offensive fighting, in the course of which they occupied the town of Pryazha, a district centre of the Finnish-Karelian Republic, and also occupied over 30 inhabited localities, including seven large ones. In the Polotsk direction Soviet troops occupied over 150 inhabited localities, and west of Mogilev troops of the Second White Russian Front occupied over all inhabited localities and reached the river crossing at Berienaat, and the town ■of Beresina. North-west and west of Bobruisk troops of the First White Russian Front occupied the towns of Fopyl, Krasnaya, Sioboda, and Krekly, also took 12,000 prisoners, including the commander of the Sixth Infantry Division, Lieutenant-General Heiner, and the commander of the town of Bobruisk, MajorGeneral Hamann. Up to yetserday the troops of the First White Russian I rent have taken 35,680 prisoners. Mass Murder Recalled. Major-General Hammann was formerly the military commander at Orel, where lie was accused of causing the mass murder of innocent civilians. A Russian supplementary communique states that Soviet planes last night carried out a mass raid on the railway junctions of Yagleviclu, Baranokichi, Luninets. Moldechno, Minsk and Polotsk, and set fire to trains carrying troops and Five comnani.es of Finnish _ infantry were routed during the action in which Pryazha was captured. Violent all-night street, fightinc preceded the capture of Borisov. Russian tank and infantry units which Mirst into the town from the north and south squeezed the German garrison in an iron pincers: Eighty German tanks and 100 guns were destroyed in the two days of fighting.