RUSSIANS CONFIDENT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 6 September 1941, Page 5

RUSSIANS CONFIDENT

ENEMY WILL BE BEATEN OFF IF NOT BOGGED BY WEATHER. POSITION ON OTHER SECTORS. (By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright) LONDON, September 5. The Germans are playing up the magnitude of the success of their offensive in the Leningrad area, as they did against the Ukraine, but the Russians are confident that the enemy will be beaten off if he is not bogged by the weather. The Russians continue to counterattack extensively on the central front. Moscow states that the principal attacks are proceeding along a line running south from Viazma in the direction of Roslavl and Bryansk, but Berlin claims that the encircling movement based on Gomel designed to shut in Kiex is unhindered. The Tass news agency says that the Germans are abandoning position after position on the central front, but are offering bitter resistance and making much use of artillery. The Germans tried to forestall the Russians by a surprise psychological attack. They sent forward two picked companies headed by a military band. The Russians let the companies advance in perfect order, and then opened heavy machine-gun fire, after which came a bayonet charge. Both German companies were wiped out. The Germans admit bitter fighting on the central front. They, like the Russians, do not specify the locality, but a clue is given, in a Luftwaffe report *that German planes co-operated in ground battles in the Bryansk area. There have been already signs that the Germans tried to push to Bryansk in an attempt to cut off the spearhead of General Koniev’s drive against Gomel and Bobruisk. The “Pravda” reports that the Germans lost 15,000 men in the struggle for a village near Kiev. The Red Army retook the village after the Germans had occupied it for four days. The position of Odessa is stated to have improved after immense Rumanian losses and successful Russian counter-attacks. A Hungarian communique says that the operations of the German and Hungarian troops in the Dnieper salient are proceeding successfully, and the Hungarians have occupied important Russian positions. Beyond the fact that the Germans claim that the operation was defeated, there was no further news regarding the reported Russian attempt to land forces on the Black Sea coast. It is officially stated in Moscow that Soviet fleet air arm bombers in this region inflicted heavy casualties on Nazi infantry and artillery.

IN THE BALTIC NO RUSSIAN WARSHIPS SUNK. RECENT GERMAN CLAIMS. MOSCOW. September 5. The Information Bureau spokesman, M. Lozovsky, described the German claims regarding Russian shipping losses in the Baltic Sea as fantastic. He said that actually not a single Russian warship has been sunk. (The latest German claim was made in a communique on August 30 which stated that the Russians lost a cruiser, five destroyers, nine minesweepers and three patrol vessels in the evacuation of Tallinn. When trying to reach the Kronstadt naval base 21 transports were sunk by mines, and bombers destroyed 22 and severely damaged 39. while five destroyers were also severely damaged.)