Evening star., 1941-07-27
1895 Soviet Tanks
Are Destroyed in
Ukraine, Nazis Say
Bad Weather and Terrain
And Red Resistance Are
Blamed for Drives Lua
~ the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
BERLIN. July 26-Capture of a
Soviet bunker on the east bank of
the Dniester river and destruction of
1,086 tanks by a German Panzer
Corps in the Ukraine were reported
by the official news agency D. N B.
today, even while difficulties of the
Nazi drive to the east were empha-
sized.
The Dniester fortification, its exact
location unspecified, was declared to
have fallen before a co-ordinated
attack by Luftwaffe bombers and in
fantry.
D. n B. said German losses were
low. although there was stiff Russian
resistance. D. N. b said the Russians
lost 230 tanks yesterday through de-
struction or capture on various Sec
tors of the front.
German planes were said to have
put IA batteries of artillery out of
action in one sector, DESTROYED 25
guns and munitions dump north
OF Smolensk, attacked retiring Rus
sian columns in the Smolensk area.
battered Moscow's eastern railway
yards and bombed Red Army con-
centrations in the Kiev region.
Bad Weather Emphasized
German war reports again en-
phasized bad weather. difficulties of
terrain and localized Russian re-
sistance" as the fifth week of the
war Jagged to close
Particularly on the south front.
where for days the Germans have
said they are approaching Kiev,
capital of the Ukraine. the condi-
tions of the roads and weather where
reported as hinderlng factors,
The tenor of the high command
communique again was that the
campaign against Russia is pro
ceeding according to plan" and in
commenting on that familiar phrase,
the commentary Dienst aus Deutsch-
land said that according to plan"
means successfully.
The high command did mention
that IAN attack by strong Soviet
units freshly thrown into the battle
foundered with heavy losses to the
enemy" in the region west and south
west of Vyazma, which is 90 miles
northeast of Smolensk on the main
road to Moscow.
There was no indication anywhere, |
however, of exactly how far from
wanna the battle occurred and it
was impossible to tell whether the
Germans had made any appreciable |
advance toward the Russian capital. |
The high command a full 10 days |
ago had reported that after captur-
ting Smolensk its forces had gone
over and beyond the city
Resistance Declared Broken.
"In the Ukraine" said todays /.
communique, resistance of the en-
envy rearguards has been broken.
Allied troops continue pursuit of
the defeated enemy. Despite bad
weather and difficult roads. mopping
up of Bessarabia by Rumanian units
is nearing conclusion" "
The impression was impaired in
German war reports that Russian
troops were now all but out of Bessa-
rabia, the region Russia took from
Rumania by ultimatum in the par
tition of that Kingdom last year.
The Germans are saying that
with the Firms in the north having
forced their way to the Russian bor-
der of 1889 and with the Russians
forced back in the Baltic states, in
Poland and in Bessarabia, the Rus
sian territorial gains of the past
two years now have been virtually
wiped out.
In other places the Germans and
their allies are far into Russian ter
ritory.
The depth of the fighting zones,
which made the front vague, and
the reticence of the high command
kept the German people pretty
much in the dark as to what prog
ress has been made in the last few
days.
Opposition Reported Stiff.
But as usual there were reports
of small details of actions along the
extensive front. Thus the Germans
reported that one infantry regiment
had thrust forward to a position
west of Leningrad. There, it was
said, youthful members of Rus
sian motorized column surrendered
after they killed their political COM
missarS.
In other sectors of the Leningrad
front opposition was reported stiff.
A German press dispatch said that
on the south front Russian tank
operators were captured while fight
ing as infantry. In explanation the
Germans said three Russian tank
divisions lost all their equipment
and then carried on the war with
rifles.
Other meager reports from the
south described extensive but slow
Russian Withdrawals. 1t was stated
that Rumanian bombers operating
with German forces DESTROYED "sev-
eral overloaded transport ships" at
the mouth of the Dniester River
yesterday.
One report gave fleeting glimpse
of the war which almost has been
forgotten in Berlin-the German
Italian siege of Tobruk. where Brit
ish forces are surrounded in Libya.
1t was stated that British work bat
talions which tried under the cover
of sandstorms 20 repair the damage
of recent bombardment concentrated
in earthworks were dispersed by ar
tillery.
A brief reference to the English
Channel front said that there were
no British daylight flights into Ger
many of the occupied territory yes
terday.
Comparison With West Front.
The official news agency D. N. B.
In commenting on five weeks of the
campaign against Russia said the
fighting taking place at this moment
resembles the war of movement on
the west front after the Germans
moved form Belgium into France.
There is the difference, however,
said D. N B. that the Russian front
is more than six times as lonp as