The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-07-22

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 Destruction, 1t was asserted, was caused to Red army headquarters and many other of the large gov- ernment buildings.
 The big air attack on Moscow as launched as German troops were said by the high command to be closing in upon surrounded Soviet troops along lengthy broken and disconnected Russian front where no unified Russian command is now operating.
 Was Retaliation
 Reporting on the air offensive against Moscow, the high command said:
 "In retaliation for Bolshevist air raids on the open capitals of our allies, Bucharest and Helsinki, our air force last night for the first time attacked Moscow.
 Strong bomber formations fav- ored by good ground visibility bombed in rolling attacks military objectives of the Bolshevist traffic uA4A dAAtldAAAC4ANo CCAAOSAs
 "1n the area of the Kremlin and Moscow river, direct bomb hits caused numerous large fires and blazes extending over 8 wide area.
 Buildings of the high army cora- mand and the Soviet government authorities as well as supply depots in the city were destroyed and severely hit"
 The high command asserted that operations flor the annihilation" of individual enemy groups are being steadily pressed by German armed forces.
 The high command said that Mos. cow had been attacked last night for the first time by the German Luftwaffe.
 It described the attack as a "re- prisar' for Soviet air raids on Buch- arrest and Helsinki.
 Always ReprlsaIs
 (The German high command ctis- tomarily describes its large air ate tacks on cities as "reprisals" for various enemy acts. Virtually all the Luftwaffe's severe attacks on British cities have been proclaimed by the Nazi propagandistS to be "reprisals" for various actions by the British.)
 Hundreds of explosive bombs and tens of thousands of incendiary bombs" were dropped on Moscow in a raid which was comparable in its devastating effect with the heaviest blows by the Luftwaffe against England" informants as- serted.
 Pilots observed l2 heavy bomb hits near the walled Kremlin, head quarters of Premier Josef Stalin, informants said, and 20 big fires weer seen immediately east of the Kremlin.
 (Russia's cathedral of St. Basil, historical museum, Museum of Ap- piled Science, Central Commercial Arcades and Commissariat for heavy industry are east of the Kremlin. The Hotel Metropole which houses many foreign visitors Is just to the northeast.)
 Heavy destruction" was caused at the bend in the Moscow diver which flows through the city, in- formants said, and also near the Red Army headquarters" and the radio headquarters.
 Nine intense fires were seen in the bend of the river, it was asserted and 1t was "believed" that the "elec- | Vw1n xxyAp.ipcU xxyas,A tatk (The river takes an IS" course through the city. There is one big bend opposite the Kremlin. Build ings near this bend include the Museum of Fine Arts, the new Pal- ace of the Soviets, the Lenin public library, the government house, the Central Electric Station, the Kal- min textile factory, an electrical ap- plances factory, the night sani- torium, the Tolstoi Museum, the Museum of Modern Western Paint ing and the Academy of Fine Arts.)
 Did Other Things
 In addition to raiding Moscow, informantS said, German planes had disrupted several railroads west of Moscow and had heavily attacked barracks and troop concentrations south of Leningrad, in the path of the German drives at the northern part of the battle front.
 The official news agency asserted that German coastal batteries on the Latvian coast had fired on a light Soviet naval unit and had sunk one Soviet warShip" and that a German submarine had sunk 8 Russian submarine in the Baltic.
 Informants said the Moscow raid continued throughout the night uri- til dawn. The plane crews first encountered cloudy weather, they said, but the skies cleared and re- vealed all targets distinctly.
 The defenses put up an extreme ly heavy fire. informants said, and searchlights swept the sky, "but failed to prevent the German boInb- CTS from finding their targets"