Evening star., 1943-12-19
Americans Take Jap Settlement
Advance ; Miles in New Britain:
Nazis Admit Red BreakthrouQh
Russians Capture
Several Enemy
Strongpoints
By the Associated Press.

LONDON, Sunday, Dec. 19.-
Russian forces in the Southern
Ukraine have captured several
enemy strong points, killed 1,4O0
Nazis and wrecked % enemy
tanks in the Kirovograd area,
Moscow announced today, while
Berlin admitted a breakthrough
by 250,000 Russian troops storm
ing westward in the Newell area
10 miles from the Latvian bor-
der.
The Russians, mentioning only the
kirovograd front in their midnight
communique broadcast from Mos
cow and recorded here by the Soviet
monitor, said German counterattacks
in this area failed. The Germans
retreated in some areas, abandoning
large quantities of equipment and
stores, it added.
But Col. Ernst Won Hammer, Berlin
radio commentator, said the Rus
slams broke through German lines
in the Newell area in a drive from
Two directions by II infantry, cavalry
and artillery divisions and two tank
corps. He admitted the Germans
had shortened their front after
grim battles lasting several hours"
Front Not Affected Vichy Says.
A later Vichy broadcast said that
although the Red Army had ad-
vanced in the Newell sector this has
not affected the German front as
whole. German reserves have only
begun to operate and their appear
ance on large scale may alter the
entire picture in this sector"
The Russians have never acknowl-
edged attacking in the Newell area
despite German claims since last
Monday that $4,000 Russians in ad-
dition to three tank brigades had
plunged out In an offensive which
began south Of Newell and spread to
the west and northwest.
Earlier German reports said the
Russians "surged toward our posi-
tions practically necessarily. Local
breaches were sealed of. During
the fluctuating, bitter fighting the
Bolshevists suffered particularly
heavy losses"
Berlin also acknowledged the
power Of Soviet drives in the
Ukraine, where the forces under
Gen. Ivan s. Konev were pounding
at Kirovograd's defenses. The Ger
mans mentioned repeated massed
attacks" in the last "a hours, but
said German counterattacks were
progressing in the area.
The Germans said the Russians
lost 54 tanks in the fighting Friday
Moscow dispatches called the
news from the front the most
meager in many days, and the last
two communicates were the shortest
since the beginning of the Russian
offensive. Even Red Star, the army
newspaper, and Izvestia. the Mos
COW daily, carried no front dis
patches. Unfavorable weather was
believed the cause for the lack of
news.
But with the Russians pointing
up their fighting in the Kirovo-
grad area, indications were that
with Smela, to the north, the two
towns were valuable prizes. Should
the Red Army succeed in crashing
through the front anywhere be-
tween them, whole network of
communications vital to German
plans would become useless, Mos
cow said
In London it was expected that
the decisive battle for Kirovograd
would develop in the next few DAYS.
For the second day the Russians
have made no mention of the Kiev
bulge, indicating a lull after five
weeks of frantic but futile German
efforts to break the Red Army's
main Dnieper salient.
Reinforcements Expected.
Moscow said the Germans NAV be
expected to reinforce their army
along the Teterev River, SIS miles
west of Kiev, during the break in
the fighting and another all-out
effort to crack Soviet defenses
would not be unexpected.
The fighting, which originally
involved eight German tank divi-
sions, was reported to have dwin-
died to scouting operations, mark
ing a Red Army defensive victory