DON CROSSED BY RUSSIANS EAST OF CITY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 12 February 1943, Page 3

DON CROSSED BY RUSSIANS EAST OF CITY

Rapid Soviet Progress in Areas Further North i ENEMY DEFENSIVE LINE ON DONETZ SMASHED KHARKOV ALREADY UNDER LONG-RANGE FIDE LONDON, February 11. The high spots of today’s news from Russia are:— Rostov: In spite of determined enemy counter-attacks with infantry, tanks and artillery, Rostov is now in real danger. The threat has been increased greatly by the Russian crossing of the Lower Don east of Rostov. Don Basin: The German attempt to hold a defensive line on the Donetz River has been smashed as the Russians have gained bridgeheads across the river on a broad front. Fierce fighting’ is going on in parts of this front. The German positions are so outflanked by the Russian thrust to the west that the enemy is having’ to fight with one eye all the time to his rear. Kharkov: The great Ukrainian city of Kharkov is now within range of Russian long-distance artillery and Soviet forces are advancing on it from the south-east and north-east. . r Kursk: The Russians are pursuing a beaten and disor- , ganised army through the Kursk gap and are continuing their swift and successful offensive. North of here, they threaten to leave the Germans in Orel in a dangerous pocket. Caucasus: Down in the Kuban Country the Germans, with Krasnodar as their only base, are trying to get some of their material across the Kerch Straits, but they are being constantly pounded by the Russian Black Sea Fleet Air Arm. THERE IS A TREMENDOUS UPSURGE IN THE SPIRIT OF THE SOVIET PEOPLE, MARKED BY AN INCREASE IN PRODUCTION THROUGHOUT RUSSIA. THE RUSSIANS ARE ALREADY PLANNING TO EXPLOIT THE RICH LAND IN THE UKRAINE AND TO GET THE SPRING SOWINGS IN.