RUSSIAN TROOPS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 17 October 1941, Page 6

RUSSIAN TROOPS

SPIRIT REMAINS HIGH FATE OF MOSCOW STILL IN BALANCE. EVENTS OF 1918 RECALLED. (Received This Day, 1.25 p.m.) LONDON, October 16. “The Times” Stockholm corres- « pondent says the fate of Moscow is hanging in the balance and the situation perhaps is more critical than ever, but as long as the spirit of the Russian troops remains high, as at present, sober observers consider that the chances are still about equal. They recall a similar appearance of German invincibility in the spring of 1918, which collapsed when their opponents persistently resisted and stubbornly refused to recognise the enemy’s invincibility. To this should be added the “Pravda” war correspondent’s declaration: “Our men fighting on the central front have one word only—‘Moscow.’ It rings like a call to determination and unparalleled bravery. Like a pledge, it unites all the front liners.” It is announced in Helsinki that Finnish armoured units, operating northeastwards of Petrozavodsk, occupied Gramoskoye and took many prisoners, including the staff of the Russian Seventh Army, excluding the commander, General Avakumoff, who escaped in a car. The Finns also occupied Mundjarvi, 35 miles from the frontier, which town the Russians set on fire.