IN PROSPECT FOR GERMANS IN SOUTH RUSSIA

Wairarapa Times-Age, 8 February 1943, Page 3

IN PROSPECT FOR GERMANS IN SOUTH RUSSIA

Soviet Forces Hammering at Gates of Rostov ENEMY DONETZ SALIENT INCREASINGLY THREATENED I FINAL CLEARANCE OF CAUCASUS NOW ONLY MATTER OF TIME LONDON, February 7. The Russians, in their great offensive in Southern Russia, are now battering at the gates of Rostov. They are closingin on the last Axis troops in the Caucasus and threatening to drive a wedge between Kharkov and the Donetz basin. ; Russian troops are now facing Rostov across the River Don, after having driven the Germans out of Bataisk. The Don, which is a mile wide, presents a serious obstacle to the Russians, but the Germans are already hinting that they may have to clear out of Rostov. Russian forces are 'closing in on the rdmnants of Hitler’s Caucasus army and it is only a matter of time now before the Caucasus will be cleared of the enemy. l There are possibilities of a greater victory in the Russian threat to drive a wedge between Kharkov and the Donetz basin. The Russians are threatening the whole of the big German salient in the Donetz Ivasin. They have quickly enlarged their two bridgeheads north-west of Rostov. One correspondent says that if the Russians continue their drive the result may be an even greater tragedy for the Germans than the loss of the Sixth Army at Stalingrad. Further north the Russians are pressing towards Kharkov and Kursk, two of the main bastions of the enemy’s defence line. The Russians were less than 20 miles from Kursk three days ago and have since captured two large towns within 45 miles of Kharkov. The Rusians have cut the road between Kursk and Orel by the capture of a town north of Kharkov. They have also captured another town south of Bataisk and the town of Azov, near the mouth of the River Don.