The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-09-23
GERMANY SEES k RUSSIA BROKEN

(Continued from Page D asserted. and the Russian dead will be proportionate to the number of prisoners"
 Tn the Minsk -Bialystok battle the Germans claimed approximately 100000 prisoners, compared to 3l0,- QO0 taken in the Smolensk opera tions. These figures compared to 100000 Russians captured in the biz World war battle of Tannen- berg.
 Severe Russian resistance was ad- mitted, especially in the Poltava sector, but the Germans claimed that all attempts to break the trap had been repulsed.
 In Q special communique issued from Adolf Hitler's Headquarters, the high command said the Ger mans had taken or destroyed more than 570 armored vehicles and 2,l00 field guns in their drive east ot Kiev.
 Among the Russian prisoners who had fallen Into German hands in the Kiev-Poltava pocket, the com Enunio,le said, was the commander in chief of the 5th Russian army.
 There were increasing signs or diSintegration Of the RlHezans caught in the pocket, the high com. maf1d said, after the smashing ot RusSlan attempts to break out ot the crushing German ring Of tanks and troops.
 Russian officers Desert
 It was alleged that at many points Russian officers and political roFnmIssars had deserted their troops in order to save themselves. The ''deserters," the communicate said, were unable to avoid their Sate!"
 m the battle which brought de- \ velopments reported in the Ukraine drive, the communique said, the armies of Col. .-den. Baron MaSmil- fan von Welch and Gen. Heinrich von sbuelpnagel participated "nril' liantly".
 Before the special communicate was issued, dispatches from the front had reported Russian resist. Rrce in the Ukraine weakening and usually well-informed sources here had iatimated that the Germans might now be within 37 l-2 miles of Kharkov, center of the rich Don- cts basin industrial area, in 0 cons tinued drive.
 Hungarian ofiicial dispatches, likewise asserting that, resistance was weakening and that the Rus slams were retreatlng precipitately, said also that the Russians had not only made some counter attacks but that they were defending the lower Dnelper river bank and even attempting some (powerlessD coun- ter-attacks" there.
 German informants indicated that the dramatic recent series ot special high command communiques on German gains in the Ukraine had not yet ended and that further big claims were to be expected soon.
 Considerable emphasis was put on the present role of the German air force, in the Leningrad area as well W8 III tIlG 9AhCk JGh tliGabChs
 Naxi Planes Are Busy
 Ofncial news agency dispatches asserted that in continued attacks yesterday German planes had set fire to @ Russian cruiser, a de- stroyer. Two transports. ore Of g. poo tons and one of l,500 tons, were sunk, it was asserted; other mer- chantmen were damaged and one outpost and three smaller boats were hit.
 Dispatches giving details of the air force attack on Russian war ships at the Kronstadt naval base of Leningrad said that the battle ship October Revolution caught fire after two direct bcSnbs hits amid- ships apparently caused an explo- sion which destroyed its bow. The cruiser Kirov, another heavy cruiser, a light cruiser and three destroyers burst into flames after direct hits, dispatches said, and small warcraft and a 2,000 ton freighter sank.
 A Hungarian communique issued at Budapest said:
 ''Mopping up of encircled Russian forces by Allied troops in the Ukraine Is progressing rapidly. En- emy troops outside the pocket are being continuously pursued east ward after some counter-attacks have been repulsed.
 'DiSsolution of the beaten armies of the former Dnieper river front is becoming evident not only by the termination Of organized command but also by the inconsistent be- havior of troop units, which permits the conclusion that their communi- cations have been severed and that they are no longer under control of their leaders.
 Soviets Abandon Hope
 ''It may be concluded from the weakening resistance of the Soviet rear guard and the surprisingly rapid pace of the retreat at some points of the main Soviet army corps that the Soviet command had abandoned hope of continued re- slstance in the territory between the Dnaeper and the Donets and is now striving with all its power to reorganize the army fragments which are flowing backward at least behind the Donets.
 "On the Hungarian front the en- emy Is still defending the east bank of the Dnieper and has even at- tempted some powerless counter attacks. At most points, however, ho has broken his fortiflcation acc tlvity and hls action has become hositant This is also evident in the enemy's aimless artillery and ar activity