AXIS GARRISON

Wairarapa Times-Age, 8 February 1943, Page 3

AXIS GARRISON

WIPED OUT AT STARY OSKOL SOVIET DRIVE ON KHARKOV. MANY RAILWAYS CUT. ' (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, February 6. Last night’s special Moscow communique announced the capture of the town and railway station of Stary Oskol, 70 miles south-west of Voronezh, where the encircled garrison was either wiped out or taken prisoner. In the Ukraine the Russians cap-§ tured the town and railway station of Izyum, 40 mles south-west of Kupyansk. The importance of the battle of rail communications, in which the Russians have been gaining such notable successes, is shown again in this communique. The, occupation of Stary Oskol frees for the Russians another important lateral railway which, when it is in working order, will make a second line running north and south in the rear of the Russian forces. The capture of Velikiye Burluk is also announced. It is on the railway from Kupyansk through Byelgorod to Kursk, and some 60 miles due east of Kharkov; therefore the Russians have made considerable progress across the River Oskol. The loss of Izyum means that the enemy has been denied the use of yet another railway from Kharkov to the Donetz industrial area and into the salient north-east of Rostov. The capture of Yama, which is announced, may well be of even greater significance, for Yama is a. junction in the network of railways in the Donetz Basin, and its fall is an indication that the Russians have been able to establish a large bridgehead south of the, Donetz. The position of the enemy in the Donetz salient has become serious since the cutting of so many railway lines, and it will not be surprising if the Germans decided that the time has come for a withdrawal at least from the eastern tip of the salient. VAIN ENEMY STAND. The Moscow radio, giving an account of the occupation of Stary Oskol, said that the Germans had concentrated the remnants of several German and Hungarian divisions, who defended the area hoping to get relief from the outside, but the Russians cut one line of communication after another and, after cutting the enemy into several groups, began to mop them up. Part of the enemy garrison surrendered and the Russians encircled and annihilated the remainder and captured large quantities of booty. The enemy’s great firepower made the fighting exceptionally fierce. All approaches were converted into pillboxes.