RUSSIAN DRIVE INTO DEFENCES COVERING SMOLENSK

Wairarapa Times-Age, 10 March 1943, Page 3

RUSSIAN DRIVE INTO DEFENCES COVERING SMOLENSK

Headway Made in Several Thrusts i ANXIOUS AND CONFLICTING GERMAN COMMENTS I ' ■ WAR OF POSITION'IN DONETZ BASIN i LONDON, March 9. The full weight of the Russian offensive still continues against Hitler’s great bastion covering Smolensk, on the central front. North and south of this area the Russians are attacking as far north as Lake Ilmen and as far south as the borders of the Northern Ukraine, west of Kursk. Further south, the warfare has slowed down from one of movement to one of position. On the central front the threat to Viazma is growing hourly since the Russian capture yesterday of Svchevka (40 miles north of Viazma). One Soviet column is driving southward along the railway towards Viazma and another is attacking eastward from Gzhatsk. Further south, the Russians are threatening the vital enemy lifeline, the road and railway running back to Smolensk from Viazma. Moscow messages say the Russian offensive has not yet fully developed. The Red Army is striking in at least five separate sectors and is keeping the Germans guessing with chessboard tactics. Further south, the Germans still claim to be attacking the Russian positions a few miles west of Kharkov. A German communique states that German troops are masters of the situation on the whole Russian front and are attacking successfully. In the next sentence, it states that on other parts of the front they are defending their positions or trying to disengage and retreat to shorter lines.