MAINTAINED AT MANY POINTS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 18 December 1939, Page 7

MAINTAINED AT MANY POINTS

But Forces Withdrawn from Northern Petsamo HEAVY RUSSIAN LOSSES REPORTED COUNTRY RAVAGED BY RETREATING ARMIES (By Telegraph.—Press Association.—Copyright) |,( >.\ D( >N, Ueeeniber 17. The latest Finnish war cpinriiiiuiqiie states that all the Russian advances have been repulsed except in the tar northern Petsamo district, from which the Finnish troops were withdrawn. Fourteeii tanks were destroyed in a new attack on the Karelian Isthmus. Russian naval units were very active in the eastern portion of the Gulf of Finland. It is reported today that the Finns have recaptured Kuolajarvi, halting a two-pronged offensive toward the Gull ol Bot hiiia. Yesterday’s Russian entnmnniqiie claimed the capture ol Salmijarvi. on the Norwegian frontier, and also an advance of 71) miles in the central zone an da “successful advance” on the Karelian Isthmus. Reports from the Norwegian frontier states that every Finnish house for 12 miles round Salmijarvi is ablaze and forest tires are raging. The Finns are ravaging the country as they retreat. The Russians have still failed to achieve a definite result. A Russian communique this morning states that there was a continued advance on tin- Murmansk and Kritno sec-tors and insignificant skirmishes elsewhere. Observers in Helsinki estimate the Russian losses so far at 50 planes and over 100 tanks and armoured cars. It is estimated that 100 Russian lives are lost for every Finnish life taken.