Evening star., 1943-10-09
Russians Plan
Pincers Move
To Storm Kiev
Dig Great SoIients
North and South ot
Ukruinion Bustion
By the Associated Press.

LONDON, Oct. Blastine
huge wedges into the 30-mile
deep German defense zone west
OF the Dnieper River north anc
south Of Kiev, strong spearheads
of the Red Army have hurled
back fierce Nazi counterattacks
and entrenched themselves fol-
what appeared to be a huge
plncer movement aimed at en-
veloping the great fortress city
Moscow announced today the
major breach in the German lines
was carried out south of Pereyaslav
so miles below the Ukrainian cap.
ltal. 1t was expected expansion OF
this wedge may collapse the whole
front. Carried out under the cover
of darkness, the attack caught the
enemy by complete surprise.
Of almost equal importance wa.
the storming of the German west
bank defenses north of Kiev neal
the confluence of the Pripet ane
Dnleper Rivers.
Germans Strike Back.
German commanders have
thrown a great weight of tanks
and bOmberS into the battle of
the Dnieper in an effort to pre-
vent the Russians from clamping
2 plncers on the Ukrainian capi-
tai Of Kiev from bridgeheads
north and south Of the gold
domed city, Moscow dispatch
to the Associated press said.
(The Germans hurried tanks,
artillery. planes and men to
the critical sectors every hour
through gantlet of Russian
euerrlllaS. Red bombers blasted
away at communications in full
realization that, at the moment,
traffic is the key to victory.
Every indication was that the
German general staff would do
everything iii its power, including
the shifting of troops from other
sectors, 10 mold the Dnieper line.
tFully aware of the tactical VIC
tories they have won in three
major crossings of the waterway
greatest in all Europe after the
Volga and Danube-the Red
Army used the darkness last
night 10 move more reinforce
ments into their bridgeheads.
Trucks made in the United
States we're playing a part in
this mighy transport of men and
materiel across the barrier.
tAmerican-made planes also are
playing large part in the heavy
battles in which the Red Army
was fighting to protect its life
lines across the Dnieper)
Fan Out to South.
Soviet advance guards we're fan
ming out to the south in a drive
evidently aimed at hitting Kie,
from the rear and meeting othe,
Red Army columns sweeping ur
from the south.
A third important Red Army foot
hold on the west bank. between
kremenchug and Dnepropetrovsk
was also firmly established. the
Moscow communique indicated, and
Russians were repulsing counter
smashes in which the Germans
hurled tanks, planes and men to no
avail.
More than $500 Germans fell in
the fierce bridgehead battles. Soviet
alrmen, screening the crossings
shot down 80 German planes in air
combats high over the river.
Berlin broadcasts mitt e d
marked accentuation" of the Rus
sian fanlike operations on the west
bank of the Dnieper and said Red
Army spearheads were probing for
more crossings at other strategic
points.
Positions Secure.
Henry c. Cassidy, Associated
Press correspondent in Moscow,
said in dispatch that the Red
Army positions on the west bank
were now regarded as secure.
(Mr. Cassidy added that no.
body was more surprised by the
Red Army's new offensive than
the Russian people themselves,
and that its initial successes,
coupled with its strategic posi-
bilities, stimulated the hope that
the end of the war might soon be
in sight)
The Moscow war bulletin also re-
ported major battles far to the
north where it claimed 3.4OO Nazi
troops were killed in Soviet drives
aimed at Vitebsk and the Latvian
frontier. On the Taman Peninsula
the last remnants of the German
suicide rearguards were being
mopped up, the communiuue said
and the Western Caucasus was re-
ported practically cleared of the
enemy.
West and south of captured Newell
10 miles from the Latvian border
and so miles north of Vitebsk, the
Russians were tanning out in ever
widening circles. Here, in two days
they killed $500 Germans, took soc
prisoners and scooped up huge
stores of enemy war pear