ON THE EASTERN FRONT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 4 October 1941, Page 5

ON THE EASTERN FRONT

Terrific Tank Battle in Ukraine RUSSIANS FIERCELY OPPOSING NAZI DRIVE ON KHARKOV INTENSE STRUGGLE ON APPROACH TO CRIMEA LONDON, October 3. On the Eastern front the greatest German threat is still in the south. According to the Helsinki radio, a terrific tank battle is proceeding east of Dnepropetrovsk. It is claimed that German troops are advancing along tributaries of the Dnieper northwards towards Kharkov. The advance is being fiercely contested and the Russians are constantly launching-counter-attacks. The Germans say they are within 70 miles of the city, but there is no news yet that they have succeeded in crossing a river 80 miles west of Kharkov. In the southern Ukraine, the Russians report the recapture of a strongly fortified strategic village, from which the Germans were trying to drive a wedge into the Russian lines. The Russians routed large Rumanian forces, inflicting heavy losses on two Rumanian brigades and the supporting German troops. A considerable haul of war material captured by the Russians included 60 guns. In the Crimea fighting continues on the Isthmus of Perekop and the Germans have not yet succeeded in breaking through to the peninsula itself. On the central front another Russian success is reported, well behind the enemy lines. A Russian formation succeeded in killing 3,000 Germans and routing 17 transport columns and a S.S. battalion. Successes are also reported in the Leningrad area, where the Russians have advanced in one sector from one to two miles, A new defence line has been established, when, after ten days’ intense fighting, Russian troops forced a passage to the south bank of a river. The Germans claim the capture of Tsarskoye Seto, the former residence of the Czar, six miles south-west of Leningrad. This report lacks confirmation. The Helsinki radio refers to the ferocity of Russian attacks in the Leningrad area and states that Russian reinforcements always seem to be available.