Evening star., 1943-01-04
Russian
Continued From First Page J

sisting stubbornly along prepared
lines of defense, Red Star said.
Pravda said one Middle Don viii
lage which the Germans sought to
hold at any cost changed hands sev-
eral times before the Red Army
finally held the position and cut the
Nazi line of retreat. The newspa-
per did not identify the village, but
said l6 German tanks were wrecked
in the fighting. SD.
Prisoners were quoted as saying
that the defending division had been
recently transferred to the Russian
front from France.
COnsOlidates Positions.
Red Army forces on the central
front consolidated newly-won posi-
tions. There was local fighting west
of RZhev, German-held city on the
Upper Volga 100 miles northwest of
Moscow, which was virtually isolated
by the Russian capture of Velikie
Luki.
(The midday Soviet communi-
que, as heard in London by the
Soviet monitor, reported that the
Russian troops had liberated
several other populated places in
the MoZdok region and inflicted
heavy losses on the Germans.
1n one sector, the communi-
que said, 700 German officers and
men were killed and a quantity
of equipment captured.
(Fcur hundred more Germans
were reported killed in the fight
Ing on the central front, where,
the communique said, the Red
ARMY advanced, destroying sew
eral strong points. New gains
also were reported both in the
Middle Don area and the region
southwest Of Stalingrad, but the
names of the newly occupied
communities were not given.)
The Soviet dispatches from the
front told how Russian troops more
than 1000 miles to the northwest of
Mozdok continue to push along the
MoScow-Riga railway line toward
the Latvian border.
The communique was read over
the Moscow radio early today and
was followed by the playing of the
"1nternationale"-an unusual ges-
ture. The Germans had been held
in the Mozdok area since last Au-
gust, when they reached the town
in drive down the Rostov-Baku
railway.
The regular Soviet communioue,
as heard by the Soviet monitor in
London, told of continuing Russian
advances in the Velikie Luki re-
gion, on the Middle Don front and
south and southwest of Stalingrad.
The communique dealt bitingly
with the German claim that the
Nazi garrison at Velikie Luki was
still holding out, describing it as a
fable"
Commenting on the German
claim of Saturday that the gar
rison was offering stubborn re-
sistance," it said: THE German
garrison of Velikie Luki is Offering
neither stubborn nor even passive
resistance. 1t is three days since
not a single armed German re-
mained in this Soviet town. The
German garrison refused to lay
down its arms and was completely
wiped out"
The communique reported the
capture of vast quantities OF Ger
man equipment in Velikie Luki, said
the booty was still being counted
and added: THE German COM
mand, Of all people, knows all this
we'll. The charlatans of Hitler's
headquarters deem it necessary,
however, to conceal the truth of the
fate Of the Velikie Luki garrison"
In the Middle Don area the Rus
sian troops were breaking enemy
resistance and annihilating his man
power and war equipment" and had
captured number of populated
places, it was reported. Four hun
dred Germans were reported killed
IN an engagement on one sector.
Fighting continued within Stalin-
grad and the Germans were reported
dislodged from several buildings and
blockhouses. -Four hundred Ger
mans were reported killed in one
engagement.
The Germans were said to be
bringing reinforcements by air to
harried forces south and southwest
OF Stalingrad. The Russians re-
ported the capture of great stores
OF equipment at two points captured
in this drive, including 1000, 900
shells, 10000, 900 rounds of ammuni-
ton, $50 trucks and 5000 head of
cattle.