Evening star., 1941-08-05
Trapped Enemy Forces
Being Annihi|oted,
Berlin Asserts .

BERLIN, Aug 5.-The German
high command today reported a
widening break through" in the
Russian lines in surprise
thrust go miles southeast OF
Smolensk and the repulse and
annihilation of encircled Red
Army forces grouped in the
Ukraine for the defense of Kiev.
A communique from Adolf Hitlers
headquarters said break-out at
tempts of Soviet troops encircled
in a small area in the Ukraine,
where a powerful twin drive has
been launched to isolate Kiev, the
capital, were repulsed and some OF
the units annihilated.
D.N.B., official news agency, said
5000 Russian prisoners were cap
tured along with so cannon and 1853
trucks in the Ukraine. although the
high command did not detail Its
successes there.
To the north, where the COM
mand has been comparatively silent
concerning its drive toward MOS
COW, the communique said a sur
prise offensive was opened In A
new direction southeast OF Smo-
lensk and "a new enemy power
group was partly annihilated ana
partly encircled."
43 Bunkers Reported Seized.
DNB. said German troops broke
into extensive Russian field positions
south of Kiev yesterday. seizing 43
bunkers. Thousands OF prisoners
and a great amount OF war material
were taken after hard fighting. the
agency said, and described the Rus
sian losses as very high. with the
number of dead twice as great as the
number of prisoners.
Almost complete occupation OF
the last of the Soviet-occupied Bal
tic states, Estonia, was indicated by
the communique, which reported
the capture of Tapa, small railroad
town As miles southeast Of Tallinn,
the Estonian capital.
Tapa, one of the few definite
points mentioned in recent German
communicates, Is but Is miles south
of the Gulf of Finland and about
80 miles west of the Soviet frontier.
At the same time DN.B. told OF
an incident in the Ukraine sector
in which German engineers and
shock troops made a sudden attack
on a long Soviet troop transport
train engaged in withdrawing de-
feated forces to the east. The dis
patch said the locomotive and cars
were tumbled into the ditch. where
they burst into flames. and that the
Germans opened fire from a nearby
woods on the panic-stricken Soviet
troops.
Report Moscow Raided.
Vital war objectives in Moscow
were hit in another successful raid
with explosive and incendiary
bombs, the high command said.
There were indications that the
Germans may be making their prin-
cipaI effort in the Kiev sector.
Reports from the front led OBJ
servers to believe that the Germans
were aiming at something greater
than the capture of Kiev-perhaps
seizure of the great Russian in
dustrial center of Dnepropetrovsk.
This city, straddling the Dnieper
River about 1875 miles southeast OF
Kiev, is the site of heavy armament
works. Situated in the center of a
great coal, iron and manganese
producing region. it would be q
choice military plum.
The German high command re-
ported yesterday that Nazi and
Hungarian troops thrusting deep
into the Ukraine had already cut
important Russian railway COM
munications, and informed sources
said this undoubtedly was a refer
ence to lines linking Kiev with the
Black Sea.
Severance of these lines, the
sources declared, would make it
difficult for the Russians to move
vital oil supplies into the battle
area from Batum.
OF the operations around Smo-
lensk, the Lokal Anzeiger declared
the Russians had suffered "extraor-
dinarily heavy" losses.
There was little reference to
operations in the Leningrad sector,
but German troops pushing toward
the city from the south were said to
be completing encirclement OF Rus
sian forces in the narrow neck OF
land between Lake Peipus and the