RUSSIA.

Taranaki Daily News, 14 May 1918, Page 5

RUSSIA.

ARCHDUKE NICHOLAS. DECLINES TO BE INTERVIEWED. Berne, May 12. The Crimea correspondent of the Frankfurter Zeitung visited Diuble Castle, where the Romanoffs are kept prisoners under the surveillance of 2C soldiers of the Sevastopol Soviet, sworn to prevent their escape. The Archduke Nicholas refused to receive the correspondent, explaining that he had nothing to say.—Aug. N.Z. Cable Assoc. THE SOVIETS CORNERED. GERMANS INSIST ON DEMANDS. London, May 12. The Times correspondent at Moscow states that Russia again seems dangerously near a final catastrophe. The cry here is that the Germans will shortly occupy Petrograd and Moscow. This is based on the belief that the Bolshevik dictators will not yield to the series of German ultimatums, or that submission has been made purposely impossible. People now recognise that it is only the German will which counts, and some welcome the invasion, hoping it will terminate the present chaos. The German Ambassador's demands include the immediate return of all German prisoners, the restoration of order, for which purpose the Soviet forces are considered insufficient, and the surrender of the fortins connected with the Kronstadt system of fortifications. The commissaries sit in constant session sending protests to Berlin, which remains uncompromising. It is stated that two German divisions from Pskov will occupy Petrograd unless the Soviet submits.—Times Service. RELEASE OF PRISONERS. Moscow, May 12. Many political and criminal prisoners have been released, including the exWar Minister Sukhomlinoff and other Ministers of the Romanoff and Kerensky regimes, except those charged with bijtn treason and embezzlement. Refugees from Riga state that numerous German troops were recently hurriedly sent to the West front.—Reuter.