Evening star., 1941-06-28
Tanks, Planes and
Artillery Join in
Mighty Assault
n the Associated Press.


krieg commensurate, have rout-
ed the most threatening Of all
the German panzer columns that
have showed into the buffer zone
of occupied territory along the
old Russian frontier, it was an
nounced officially today.
The German column was pointed
toward Minsk, on the road to Mos
COW, 400 miles away, when the Rus
slams, by their own account, turned
the full fury of their lightning war
on it.
Minsk, capital of White Russia.
hes about 20 miles inside the old
frontier, about $50 miles east of the
nearest German border.
The Russian communique, pic
turing the greatest array of sue
eesses thus far in the seven-day old
struggle, said the fighting was
fercest in the MinSk and Luck sec
tors, with no evidence yet that the
Germans in either had crossed the
old frontier.
AS TO the southern front, the
Soviet officially declared that from
Przemysl, in Poland down to the
Black Sea our troops successfully
repulsed numerous attempts by the
enemy to penetrate our territory
and firmly hold the state frontier
axis sources at 1stanbul, Tur-
key, declared, however, that the
German Army had taken Minsk.
This lacked confirmation from
other quarters.)
Division Reported Annihilated.
The Russians claimed annlhila-
ton by a cavalry division of Ger
man infantry regiment trying to
cross the Prut River from Rumania
into Bessarabia, dispersion of the
headquarters of the 39th Tank
Corps of the German Army, cap
ture of prisoners and war materials,
as we'll as German battle plans.
Two areas Of particularly fierce
fighting were identified roughly in
the Russian communique - the
Minsk sector and the Lucknow
sector to the south. In the latter,
1t was said. and panzer attempts
to outf1ank Lwow were successfully
repulsed"
While the staff of the 39th Ger
man tank corps was reported routed
along with tank units in the Minsk
sector, the communique also said
fighting against German tank units
continued throughout the night in
the Luck and Lwow areas.
Battle Lines Opened.
Battle lines spread on the south
ern flank of the Rumanian FROM
tier where. communique said, Red
cavalry had wiped out the sixth
enemy infantry regiment while 1t
was trying to cross the Prut River.
Pravda, Communist party organ,
pressed a campaign against Fin
lands role in the war, declaring
German Fascists ARE converting
the Finnish people into their
slaves"
Pravda said Finnish leaders, "be-
traying the interests of their people"
were trying to draw them into hos
tilities against Russia after vio-
lating the 1910 Finnish Russian
peace treaty by fortifying borders
and obtaining arms clandestinely
from Germany.
The Germans again turned their
main attacks toward Minsk and
Luck. north and south of the Pinsk
marshes, as the Soviet ground forces
were installed in new line of pre-
pared positions after being forced
back on the northern sector
The Soviets, warning Germany
that the hour of payment" has
come. took their new stand after
falling back with delaying actions
toward Siauliai, Wilma and Barano-
wicZe. German gains of from go
to 100 miles thus were indicated)
The Red Army, seeking to break
off a German spearhead thrusting
along the route of 'Napoleon's march
to Moscow, fought with its left flank
IN the Pinsk marshes and its back
to the old Russian frontier.
Pravda, Communist party organ,
declared "the war has only begun,
but it already is clear that the time
of counterfeit triumphs and cheap
successes is ended for the German
pigmy imitator of Napoleon"
The hour of payment for crimes
of wild cannibalism and the most
impudent violence against men and
nations has come" it said.
Accounts from Soviet correspond
ents with the Red Army said that in
one isolated sector Germans dropped
their guns, shed their tunics and
surrendered in shirt-sleeved groups
of from 10 to 20 after their ranks
were broken by Red Army fire.
Tank Battle in Third Day.
A German pursuit plane was re-
ported to have crashed in flames in
the western military district, the
flyers burning to death. after ma
chine-gunning villages and fields in
the Minsk area.
A Soviet communique declared
that along the entire southern half
of the new war front, Russian troops
were holding their Carpathian
and Prut River outposts
and breaking up n-Rumanian
offensives by counter-attacks be-
yond their borders.
At least 1900 prisoners were re-
ported taken yesterday. A German
general was said to have been killed
and his military documents seized.
The communique said Soviet Black
Sea f1otilla and Russian bombers
attacked the naval base the Nazis
built at Constanta.
Ths weight of Gerrnany's attack