Evening star., 1941-07-15
Enemy Units Headed
Toward Kiev Beaten,
Moscow Declares
- the Associated Press.

MoONOW, July 10 / lles nuo-
sian. Army was reported today tc
have launched a major offensive
along the Dnepr River, crossing
the river at several points north
of Rogachev and pushing the
Germans back 80 kilometers
(about 19 niles.
A dispatch from the front, timed
3 am. today % pm. Monday, E. S
t., published in Izvestia. the gov
ernment newspaper, said the Rus
sian drive westward was continuing
1t asserted that Rogachev, on the
west bank of the Dnepr about l3(
miles southeast of MinSk, was re-
captured by the Red Army Sunday
This town has been the scene o.
bitter fighting. as the Germans
drove across the river there in ad-
vance of their central columns
aimed at Smolensk and Moscow.
The high commands Afternoon
eommuniuue was silent on the Dnepl
offensive, but reported that fighting
RACED unabated throughout last
night for the roads to Moscow and
Leningrad. 1t indicated there had
been no change of the positions OF
the armies on the Ukrainian front
Batteries Destroyed.
The first Russian troops who
crossed the river about Rogachev
were reported to have destroyed
German artillery batteries and con-
centrations of tanks and forced the
ReichsWehr infantry to retreat.
The Izvestia correspondent SAID
the Russian offensive was being
pressed between Rogachev and
Zhlobin, IS miles to the south. and
indicated that large forces were In
volved in the fighting.
Inhabitants Return.
The report said inhabitants OF
Rogachev who had fled from the
town as the Germans advanced had
moved back into the town, many OF
whose buildings were wrecked. Cap
tured German tanks were exhibited
as war trophies.
During the night. the dispatch
said, Germans shelled villages from
which they had withdrawn. The
Nazis also were said to have dis
patched planes in an effort to check
the offensive.
Three planes were reported shot
down by Russian antl-alrcraft guns.
Striking west through the dark
ness, the Red Air feet was said to
have hammered German tank and
motorized units behind the lines
and once more raided the Ru-
,,,anian oil center at Ploesti.
For the second successive time the
Moscow war bulletin mentioned no
towns or sectors by name, thus leav-
Ing the actual battlefront unidenti-
fed.
Fierce Fighting.
1t reported: During last night
fierce fighting continued in the
northwest and west directions. On
the remaining directions and sectors
Of the front there was no major
operation"
Apparently referring to the south
ern front, the communlque re-
ported that an infantry and two
artillery regiments of Germans and
Rumanians penetrated Soviet ter
ritory but were met in a fierce night
ASsalllt by Soviet forces
The Russians reported stopping
the German-Rumanian advance
with artillery fire and tanks, then
charging their gun positions and
turning their own artillery upon
them.
"One German infantry regiment
and one artillery regiment plus
three batteries "a battalion were
smashed" the war bulletin said.
"' For several kilometers the
battlefield was strewn with enemy
bodies"
A concerted attack by warships,
bombers and coastal artillery was
declared earlier today to have
smashed a German convoy in the
Baltic Sea. sinking two destroyers,
l3 transport ships and a barge
loaded with tanks.
The Russians reported 13 other
transports and a third destroyer
damaged and left in flames in the
heavy blow last Saturday against
German sea-borne material In a
separate operation, Russian bonn
ber was said to have destroyed a
U-boat. also In the Baltic.