Evening star., 1942-05-23
Russians Acknowledge Reverses
Below Khorkovin See-Sow Fiqht,
But Claim They Hold initiative
Berlin Reports German
Forces Have Shifted
To Offensive
By the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
German Field Marshal Fedor
Won Book was reported throwing
masses of air-borne troops into
the bloody 12-day battle of Khar-
kov today, and for the first time
the Russians acknowledged re-
verses on the southern flank,
despite a toll of $4,000 Germans
killed there in three days.
Although admitting alternate
successes by the enemy the Rus
slams said they still held the initia-
tive. and reported that their shock
troops were fighting from newly
fortified positions before Kharkov,
the Russian Pittsburgh" One So
Wet gain was reported officially.
The German high command
claimed the Russian mass attacks
on Kharkov had collapsed COM
pletely and Berlin military quarters
added that German troops have
shifted to the offensive. New ex-
tensive German operations are in
progress" the military quarters said.
Red Drive Started May IL.
The high command said the Rus
sian offensive started May IL with
20 infantry divisions (perhaps 3OO,-
900 troops, three cavalry divisions
and Is armored brigades.
Suffering the heaviest blood and
material losses, the enemy was COM
pletely broken up" the communique
said.
THE German counterattack,
which started May Is, led into the
rear of the strongest enemy group
and has cut through this line OF
supplies
This apparently referred to Won
Books fanking thrust 80 miles be-
low Kharkov.
For two days now, German. Ru-
manian and Hungarian troops,
backed by strong formations of the
German Air Force, have been
making counterattacks on the whole
front of the hitherto defensive
battle"
Without confirmation elsewhere,
q Vichy broadcast said a powerful
German counterattack had thrown
Russian troops back to their origi-
nal positions on the Kharkov front.
Nazis Drive for Rostov.
British dispatches from the Ger
man frontier reported that the
Germans also we're smashing
heavily along the Taganrog- -Rostov
railway in drive apparently aimed
at recapture of Rostov-on-Don,
northern gateway to the Caucasus
oil fields.
Soviet reports said the Nazi para
chute troops and plane-transported
infantry descending on the vast
Kharkov battlefield were being
wiped out "as fast as they land
Red Star, the Russian Army news
paper, said a see-saw battle was
raging 80 miles below Kharkov. in
the Izyum- -Barvenkova sector, with
the Germans scoring alternate sue
cesses" as they sent huge forces into
synchronized attacks at several
points. The Russians, however, de-
clared their defenses still were
solid.
At some places in this sector the
Germans had a numerical superior
ity of three to one, Russian dis
Thoco o66n6 hnU-
ever, that there was no sign that
the Germans had been able to make
any important gains, although the
fight there was described as the
most severe anywhere on the front.
Allied Aid Is Stressed.
Red Star told the people of Rus
sia, meanwhile, that the United
States and England already are
able to supply not only sea and
air forces, but also a land front OF
European scale"
The newspaper said total pro-
duction of these Russian Allies ex-
ceeded that of German and all her
occupied territories both in gen.
eral volume and output of the most
important items-planes, tanks and
guns"
Dispatches to Red Star said the
Germans hurled three waves of
tanks into a narrow sector on the
southern flank, attempting to cut
a wedge into Soviet lines, but a
Russian counterattack destroyed 80
u{e to
treat several miles.
Unofficial Soviet tabulations listed
German tank losses at more than
$50, including IS knocked out OF &C
ton Thursday.
Reds Say They Force Pace.
While the Germans painted an
optimistic picture of Won Books
armies seizing the initiative, the
(See RUSSIA, Page A-3D