The Wilmington morning star., 1943-09-29
RAILWAY MENACED
Russian Advance Threat.
ems To Take Key To
Poland And Baltic
1000 VILLAGES TAKEN
Soviet Armies Only IL
Miles From Gomel;
10 From Vitebsk

LONDON, Oept. 20. V
The Red army raced
through 1,160 more villages
today, Tightening it's assault
grip on Kiev, Kremenchug.
and other Dnieper river cit
les, and threatening early
seizure of the Gomel-Vlt-
ebsk railway in White Rus
STA, key to Poland and the
Baltic states, Moscow an
nounced tonight.
Sweeping up 1000 villages
on the Gomel- Mogilev-Vitebsk
front in White Russia, the
Soviet armies, the daily COM
munique said, had gained
from nine to Is miles, put
ting them within II miles OF
Gomel and apparently only
about 10 from Vitsbsk.
Thus both ends Of the I'M
portant railway, the last
north-south line available to
the Germans east of the old
Polish border, was in Red
artillery range.
The fall soon Of the east
bank city of Kremenchug all
so was foreshadowed in the
bulletin, recorded by the So
Wet monitor. One Soviet col
umn attacking that bridge
head city frontally was rip
ping Nazi defenses within
nine miles of the city; others
had swept around it to the
Dnieper on both sides.
Dnepropetrovsk Endangered
Dnepropetrovsk, IS miles SOUTH
east of Kremenchug, also was en-
dangered by Soviet troops attack.
ing from its east bank suburbs.
and the communique said 38 more
villages had fallen to the Red army
consolidating it's positions on the
left bank opposite Kiev, Ukraine
capital far to the northwest.
Moscow dispatches said l o 6
lines of German reserves were be-
irg hurried from the rear in an
effort to hold the Dnieper line.
The Soviet air force was strafing
and bombing troop trains west Of
the Dnieper, however, d the
communique indicated no slack
ening in the Red army's westward
plunges.
A German broadcast recorded
by the Associated Press said the
Red army already had stabbed I'M
successfully at some islands in
the broad Dnieper above K j v,
building RATS and pontoon bridges
| by night.
Fresh crossings Of the Dnieper
also were reported by Berlin. Al.
though one broadcast said these
failed, the Nazi high command
communique said numerically
weak" Russian troops still were
fighting on the west bank. Moscow
was silent on these reports.
| THE London radio, in a broad
cast recorded by CHS, quote d
Stockholm reports that German
war material is already b e n g
evacuated from Kiev," and also
said that Berlin reports reach
ing Madrid say that the German
high command has ordered Kiev
to be RACED to the ground.")
Berlin said heavy fighting still
ragged at the gates of Melitopol, ITO
miles south Of Dnepropetrovsk on
the railway leading into the Cri-
mea, which is imperilled also by
Russian forces expelling the last
Nazi remnants in the Caucasian
peninsula 10 the east.
The Russians said their forces
knocked out 80 German tanks and
II planes in Mondays fighting.
The situation in key sectors az
announced by Moscow:
Vitebsk-Three hundred villages
taken in advances of six to IL
miles. The Russians previously
had been reported from 20 to 30
miles outside Vitebsk, whose fall
would imperil German lines ex-
tending northWard to Leningrad
and open the way to Russian
drive into the Baltic states. A de.
termined German stand is expect.
ed at Vitebsk.
Mogilev-Five hundred villages
were overrun in drives on this
city and Orsha, intermediate points
on the Vitebsk- Gomel line. T h e
Russians still are more than SO
miles away from Mogilev, but
(COntinund nm pauo Tvuo. roJ ~