VAST BOOTY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 18 February 1943, Page 3

VAST BOOTY

CAPTURED BY RUSSIANS ' STORES & EQUIPMENT. EFFECT OF SOVIET SUCCESSES. LONDON, February 17'. Moscow announced that large numbers of the enemy troops were wiped out, and vast quantities of stores and equipment were captured at Kharkov. The booty is now being counted. President Roosevelt in Washington today stated that the Soviet successes at Kharkov and Rostov make it difficult for the Germans to deliver successful counter-attacks next spring. He pointed out that in the southern Soviet-German theatre the strong- • points which have been recaptured by the Russians have been located in flat country, in which Germany would find it difficult to organise for offensive operations. London commentators believe that General Golikov’s westward thrust from Kursk threatens the junction of Sumy, while Dnepropetrovsk, which is, the linch-pin in the arc stretching before Kiev from Konotop to Zaporozhe, is endangered by the Red Army's occupation of Losovaya and Krasnoarmeisk. Thus the Dnieper line, which is believed to be the next German line of defence, is already threatened. The swift Russian drive below Kharkov suggests that the Red Army may reach the Dnieper before the Germans have disengaged their troops from the Donetz. In addition, the threatened liquidation of the Orel hinge between the German northern and southern fronts, would further profoundly affect the German situation. The Russians who swept round Rostov from the north and cut the Ros-tov-Taganrog railway two days ago, arc now approaching Taganrog. The Russians in the past 24 hours have captured 56 towns and villages in the eastern Donetz Basin. Little further progress has been made from the north in the Donetz Basin. The Russians continue to hold the advanced positions which they gained, and the Germans are offering strong resistance. Though the retreating enemy have oply one railway, hard ground is facilitating the withdrawal across country. The Germans, before evacuating Rostov, destroyed the most beautiful parts of the city, including the Maxim Gorky Theatre. Gardens round Rostov are full of German graves.