New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-06-15
Reach River Pruth--
Extend Drive to
Northern Front.
AUSTRIANS QUIT
LEMBERG, RUMOR
Right Wing Is Threatened
by Slav Advance
Toward KOvel.

London. June -. he
c,u;r- their advance along the whole
,outbeastern front. from the Pripet
marshes 10 the Rumanian frontier, have
,v,.r5cd their great offensive to the
,ortbern front. against General Won
u,denburg's army. Attack after at
.sck was LAUGHED to-day against the
German positions about seventy-hve
miles north OF Pinsk, and, although
,bev broke down under the furious hre
# the German guns, 1t is evident
that they succeeded in placing the
Kaiser's forces in a position that Will
preelude any further offensive move
r,snts on their part for some time TO
come.
The movement intended 70 divert
ire Russians from the fighting IN the
soutb has only resulted in further eA-
,o,;,r the bears claws. The initial
.t,empt Of the Germans TO clip them
won only ugly scratches.
25 Miles from kovel.
Tie present objectives of the nus
SLAMS on the southern front are kovei,
Temberg and Czernowitz. Tonight
the Russian armies are just twenty
sve miles from Kovel and forty-eight
miles from Lemberg. They have com
pletelv enveloped Czernowitz, cut on
i,s railway communication from the
north and pressed twenty miles beyond
=, toward the heart of the Galician
nlsins. touching the river Pruth at sew
eral points. The fortress-capitai OF
RutoUina can hold out in its present
isols+ed condition only q few hours.
Nothing but a complete reversal OF
conditions along the Galician front can
save Lemberg. One report says that
tho citv has already been evacuated BY
the Austrilns.
Push on Along Styr.
Along the Styr the troops Of General
BrusiloH have followed up victories
uon in the last few days. and are stead
ily advancing to the northwest, toward
vladimir Volynski Less than hfty
niles north Of Lemberg they are driv-
ING the Austrians back at SoKui'
Northwest Of Czernowitz the village oil
Soistvn has fallen before their onrush'
Northwest Of Lutsk the right flank OF
the Russian forces has swung OUT
nearer Kovel, enveloping Tortchin ana
threatening at any moment to cut OF
the Austrian right wing
The seriousness for the Austrians OF
the drive on Kovel lies in its double
menace against the lines of the Ger
mans toward Riga and those of the
Austrians to the south. kovel is, next
90 Lemberg. the most important rail-
road centre behind the eastern Aus
THAN line. That line cannot give way
further in the territory west Of Lutsk
without afording the Russian forces an
opportunity TO gain their objective by
both frontal attack from Rafa.owka
and d fanking from the south.
Importance of kovel.
From the point where the Rovno-
kovel railroad crosses the river Stok-
rod II is twenty-five miles 70. koveL
The weakness of the Austrian lines az
this point seems TO insure the advance
OF the Russians TO the northwest. The
capture Of Kovel will give the Russians
complete control of the railway sys.
tom serving the entire right wing OF
the Austro- German front.
The simultaneous advance OF the Rus,
sian forces westward IN Nolhynla ana
ncrthward from the Bukowina Bessa-
rsbian front is squeezing the Ieutoh
armies in the south between two HANKS
and thus forcing their hasty retreat
toward the Carpathians.
Il is regarded here as extremely sig
nifcant that on no sectors on these
southern fronts have the Austrians yet
received appreciable reinforcements.
This is taken TO mean but one thing:
that the much needed help which the
Austrians received from the Germans
when thew were confronted earlier in
the war with a similar situation is not
forthcoming now. The Kaiser has MS
hands full.
Six Thousand Prisoners Taken.
The DAVIS operations netted the Rus
SLAMS 5000 more prisoners, according
20 the Official communication Drlhglhs
the total Of the offensive we'll above
10000. These figures are disputed by
Vienna. which declares that the Rus
san casualties are two or three times
greater than those Of the Austrisns
The ruse practised By the Russians
at the beginning Of the present opera
tions is described as follows
The Russians opened with severe can,
non fire, which continued for several
hours and then suddenly ceased. Inc
Austrians, from past experience, eN
peeted an attack, which they prepared
TO meet, advancing machine guns anu
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