BATTLES ON EASTERN FRONT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 3 July 1941, Page 5

BATTLES ON EASTERN FRONT

Germans Allege Large Captures in Minsk Area RUSSIANS FIGHTING WELL IN REAR OF NAZI ADVANCED UNITS BLACK SEA FLEET BOMBARDS CONSTANTA LONDON, July 2. Moscow officially denies the German claim that Minsk and Riga have fallen and there is news of heavy fighting along the whole Eastern battlefront. nncitinn German claims and Russian reticence about the position in the Baltic States suggest that the Russian forces there are in considerable difficulty. The Germans assert that they have destroyed a large part of the Russian armies reported to have been encircled near Minsk, and claim to have taken 100,000 prisoners. There is confirmation of this report. x + Finnish and German troops are reported to have cut rne Murmansk-Leningrad railway line. The Moscow radio reports strong resistance to German advanced tank units in the Minsk area. In Galicia it appears that the main body of German troops has not maintained full contact with the tank units. There are reports of tank battles in this area, and it is believed in London that the Russians still have troops 100 miles behind the German advance units. The absence of news from Rumania suggests that the Russians are still holding a line along the River Pruth. It is reported that the Russian Black Sea Fleet yesterday destroyed by bombardment the German naval base at Constanta and sank two U-boats on its way home. . Vigorous action by the Russian Air Force is reported and it is stated that 156 German planes have been shot down m the last two days.