FURTHER ADVANCE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 20 August 1943, Page 3

FURTHER ADVANCE

RUSSIANS DRIVE A DEEP WEDGE

Into German Positions South of Kharkov TWO BIG CENTRES THREATENED NEW SOVIET OFFENSIVE REPORTED BY ENEMY AT STARAYA RUSSA LONDON, August 19. Russian forces advancing' in the Kharkov area have pushed forward a further three to eight miles and liberated 30 more villages. Reuter’s correspondent points out that the Russians have now driven a deep wedge into the German defence system south of Kharkov. Two Soviet armies are penetrating into the Ukraine. One threatens Sumy, 65 miles north-west of Kharkov, and the other Poltava, 60 miles south-west of the city. On other sectors the Russians are increasing their pressure. A further advance has been made on the Bryansk front, where the Russians have captured another 20 inhabited localities. German resistance in this area has stiffened, owing to the employment of reinforcements in new enemy counter-attacks. Berlin states that a new Russian offensive, not confirmed by Moscow, has been launched in the Staraya Russa area, south of Lake Ilmen, 120 miles south of Leningrad. The Germans say the Russians have launched an attack with 200 tanks and masses of artillery and report a tremendous artillery barrage from hundreds of batteries.