Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-12-03
RUSSIAN REPORTS
FALSE, It IS SAID
Correspondent Declares Official
News Frequently Is
Altered.
GENERALS MAKE PROTEST
Fabrications Resorted To When
Courage of People Is Thought
to Be Failing.
GENERALS MAKE PROTES

D
BERLIN, December "a neutral war
correspondent who returned recently
after a year with the Russian armies
furnishes some interesting information
! about the official reports Of the Russian
general staff. The CORRESPONDENT
writes to the Kreuz Zcitung:
The Russian official reports are
worked out at headquarters in n little
town ives; of Kishineff by number
of high army officers and officials of
tho Foreign Office. headed by Privy
Councillor OF State Palcn. After the
| daily reports from the different fronts
are received they arc compiled by the
army officers. who draw up "a summary.
| which is turned over to Fallen. edited
by this powerful official and forwarded
TO the general staff at PctroErad.
From tn" general staff the report
goes TO the Foreign Office and the
Ministry OF the Interior. where it is
carefully examined as to it's possible
effect on the Russian people. the allied
countries and the neutrais. The report
is published only after all responsible
officials arc satisfied with ii, and some
times il is edited three or four times.
Whenever the Russian government
for Internal or foreign political rea-
sons need victories they are promptly
/ forthcoming. Generally the glowing
accounts Of disastrous defeats of the
Teutonic allies are made up at head
quarters but sometimes this is done
a; Pctrograd. The commanding gen
erals have nothing to do with these
fabr!cations. and arc not responsible
| for them because they only see the
reports after their publication.
PROTESTS OFTEN MADE
ny PROMINENT GENERALS
Many Of the honest Russian army
leaders. like General Russky and Cen
eral kuropatk.n. have repeatedly pro-
tested against the Justification of of
fetal reports. General RuSsky carly
last spring was greatly surprised when
the general STAFF credited him with 3
great victory. in which he was said to
have captured 5000 prisoners fourteen
guns and over fifty machine guns. AS
no battle had taken place on his front
and he did not want to appear in a
wrong light in tho eyes of the foreign
officers and correspondents at his
headquarters he telcgraphed to Pc
trograd and demanded Il correction
lie was Informed that the report had
been given out for good and sufficient
reasons. and could not be retracted
General kuroratkin had a similar
experience several months earlier
| The former War Minister. who has
since been relieved of his command
and sent TO Turkcstan as governor
general. reported small engagement
south of Dvinsk. in which about 400
prisoners were made When he saw
the report OF the general staff he
learned to his astonshment. that he
had completely broken tho front of
Won iiindcnburg and captured over
4.a"o Germans. He also protested, hut
did NOT even receive an answer from
Petrograd
ALWAYS UNRELIABLE As TO
NUMBERS OF PRISONERS
The Russian reports are ALWAYS
entirely unreliable. as far as the num-
Der OF prisoners mentioned in them is
concerned. on June 1G, 1916. when the
Russians were in full retreat. the gem
eral staff officially REPORTED the can
turc OF $4,000 Germans and Austrians
near LembcrE.
Such outright Qualifications are only
rcsorted to when the courage of the
Russian people and their allies needs
stimulation. but the general staff
always cXaggcratcs the number of
prisoners. The captured officers and
soldiers are seldom counted. The com
mandcrs Of the different divisions con-
tent themselves with asccrtainine to
which German or Austrian regiments
their captives belong. and they take II
Tor granted that these entire units
have fallen into their hands In an
engagement in Galicia seventy Aus
TRANS belonging to four different COM
panies were brought in. and the next
day the general staff reported the cap
ture OF four. whole companies, or 900
men.
The number of officers reported cap
tured by the Russian general staff is
In every case entirely out OF propor-
tion with the number of men said to
nave been taken. This is explained
by the fact that all noncommissioncd
officers even lance corporals, are
classed rs officers"