Evening star., 1941-07-13
Russian Defenses Are Shattered
At 3 Main Points, Nozis Claim;
Dents Unimportont, Reds Reply
Less Than 300 Miles
From Moscow, Reich
Communique Says
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
BERLIN, June 12.-The Ger
man High Command after al
most a full week of silence Of
fcially announced tonight that
the Stain Line, RuSSla'S main
defense barrier, had been broken
at all decisive points"
The Germans reported that their
bitzkrieg legions had smashed
through in the direction of all three
of their main drives-toward Mos
COW; the capital, Leningrad, Rus
sia's big Western port, and toward
Kiev, capital of the grain-rlch
Ukraine.
The German army pushed
through in the central MinSk area
to a point 125 miles beyond MinSk,
putting the Nazi legions less than
300 miles from Moscow, the high
command said.
In the drive toward the Ukraine,
German troops were declared to be
standing CLOSE before Kiev' and
elsewhere along this southern end
OF the front German and Rumanian
troops were stated to be pursuing
Russians fleeing in disorder.
To the north the Nazi troops are
moving through the region of Lake
Peipus, along the Esthonian bor-
n
Leningrad," said the High Com
mand. after a break-througn in
this sector.
In the all-important central sec
tor beyond Minsk and on the high
way to Moscow the Russians are
showing signs of a breakup and
dissolution" said the communique
Nazi Air Force Active.
The German air force was de-
clared TO have been active in the
big battles, particularly by de-
stroying the enemy railway net,
behind Russian lines and thus TAX
ing away from the Russians any
further possibility of a counter
operation on large scale"
This also enabled German pane
limits to move their supply base
right up close to the former Stalir
Line" the communique observed.
The fast-moving panzer forma
fions which apparently executed al
of the break-throughS are trail
blazers for the slower infantry, al.
though earlier DN.B., the official
new agency, had stated that Ger.
man infantrymen had cleared the
way for an all-out assault in the
northern sector.
DN.B. said the infantry had
swung into action after 16 days OF
marching at a 21-mile- day clip.
The high commands sweeping an.
nouncement was made in the spe.
cial communique issued shortly be.
fore midnight. The first operations
against the Stain Line were an
nounced by the high command or
July 6. Since then it had given nc
specific indication of progress.
The most significant break
through appeared to be that at th
center of the line beyond Minsk OF
the direct road to Moscow. Th
high command had especially sig
nailed out this area OIL the Dnep
River north OF the Pinsk Marshes a.
being strongly fortified"
VitebSk, the fall of which was an.
hounced in the communique tonigh
although it occurred Friday, was one
OF the bulWarks in this sector, aside
from the natural obstruction of the
wide Dnepr itself.
50 Miles From Smolensk.
German panzer units in SMASHING
more than 125 miles beyond Minsk
would be only little more than sc
miles from Smolensk, important
communications center still to be
hurdled in any drive to Moscow
Smolensk played a vital part in
Napoleon's march to the Russian
capital.
There was no indication here
whether German and Finnish divi-
slonS were moving in from the north
across the Karelian Isthmus to close
in on Leningrad from the north anc
take this second largest Russian city
by the famous Nazi pincer strategy
EStonla, behind the fast-movine
panzer divisions in the Lake Peipus
region, appeared to be pretty vel
cleaned up, although the Russians
still hold Tallinn, the capital.
At the southern end of the line
Hungarian and Slovak troops were
declared to be marching with the
Germans in pursuing retreatine
Russians in the Galician sector.
Still further south. near where
the Stain Line ends at the Black
Sea, German and Rumanian col
nmns fighting together were de-
clared to have crossed the Dnest,
''on broad front" thus putting ad-
ditional German troops in the
Ukraine besides those bearing down
on Kiev, which lies in the north
western part of the rich territory
The Dnestr is the boundary between
the Ukraine and Bessarabia, ceded
to Russia by Rumania a year ago
Odessa, important Ukranian Black
(See RERIJN pooa A-20