Evening star., 1943-04-04
Reds Capture Town
In Caucasus, Tighten
Ring Around Nazis
First Official War Maps
Released by Russians
Reveal Big Gains
MAP on Page Az


LONDON, Sunday, Aoril q
The Red Army captured another
town in the Caucasus to tighten
it's semi-circle around the Nazi
bridgehead at NovorossiSk. wiped
out 450 Germans attacking the
Donets River line and also seized
a crossing over that river, Mos
COW announced early today.
The midnight communique re-
corded by the Soviet monitor iden-
tilted the captured locality in the
Caucasus as Prikubansky. presum-
ably in the Anastasaevskaya area
33 miles north of Novorossisk. Two
hundred and fifty Germans were
killed, and three guns and six NOR
tars destroyed in the action, it
added.
Little essential change, however,
was reported in the long front
between Leningrad and the Cau-
casus following the issuance IN
Moscow yesterday Of official maps
illustrating the huge strides made
by the Russians during the winter
to regain 1876 1928 square miles OF
territory.
Battle on River Front
The heaviest Dorets River battle
in the Ukraine occurred south of
Izyum, 70 miles southeast of Khar-
kov, the communique said. At this
point where the Russians hold the
western bank of the river the Ger
mans threw a motorized infantry
regiment supported by 20 tanks
against the Soviet positions, only to
lose 400 men, five tanks and seven
mobile guns
In the Belgorod sector, so miles
above Kharkov, the Russians unex-
pectedly attacked a German con-
tingent holding crossing over the
Donets, and forced the unit TO re-
treat in disorder" the communicate
said.
The official front maps were the
first disclosed by the Russians dur
ing the war.
They showed that Red Army gains
in some sectors, especially on the
central front before Moscow, were
greater than had been realized by
observers. Soviet troops were re-
vealed to have pushed their lines
nearly to Velizh, 10 miles north
west of Smolensss. and to have es-
tabllshed a line virtually at the east
ern gates of Novcrossisk, the Ger
man-held naval base on the Black
Sea.
Fighting Becomes Static.
publication OF the maps. indicat-
ing that the recently fluid fighting
front had become temporarily static
because of the spring thaw. followed
special Soviet communioue last
night which declared the Red
Army's great winter drive had cost
the Germans 850.0OO killed and over
$4,000 captured and had brought
destruction of 5000 German planes
9,l90 tanks and 2O,360 guns.
simultaneously. it was acknowl-
edged officially for the first time
that troops other than Russians
were battling against the Germans
on the Eastern Front. A Czecho-
Slovakian military unit, previously
unmentioned in dispatches, was said
to be fighting beyond south city,
with "self-sacrifice."
Today's delineation of the battle
line showed that Marshal Semeon
Timoshenko's northern offensive be-
low Lake linen was threatening the
important German base of Staraya
Russa with imminent assault and
that Soviet troops were only IL
miles east Of Taganrog on the Sea
Of Azov.
In only one instance did the
Soviet official maps apparently dis
close that the recent German
unter-offensive had captured a
city whose loss had not been an
nounced in Russian communicates.
The line passes through Sevsk,
about 80 miles northwest Of Kursk,
and shows 1t to be in German
hands.