Evening star., 1943-11-20
Germans Hur| Counterottocks
Along Entire Ukraine Front,
Hit Cherkosi, Ovruch Sectors
Report Of New Nozi
Blows Follows Loss
Of Zhitomir by Reds
By HENRY C. CASSIDY,

Associated PreSS war correspondent.
MOSCOW, Nov. 2O.-The Ger.
mans hurled counterattacks al
along the Ukrainian front from
the Pinsk marshes southwark tt
the Middle Dnieper, the army
newspaper Red Star reported
today.
The Russians announced that they
already had been forced to give ur
Zhitomir, rail junction 80 miles
southwest of Kiev, where the Red
Army passed toward the high water
mark of its westward 1943 offensive
The Germans we're hitting espe-
cially hard in the Cherkasi sector
In a determined effort to eliminate
new Russian bridgehead which
threatened that important Middle
Dnieper city. The Russians were
said to have reached the outskirts
of Cherkasi.
Other Counterattacks.
The Germans also were counter
attacking in the Ovruch sector, on
the Odessa-Leningrad railway north
of Zhitomir and Korosten, in an
effort to heal the damage to their
all-lmportant communication lines.
Strong concentrations of troops.
tanks, sef-propelled guns and planes
were being thrown into the Nazi
counterattacks in narrow sectors,
Red Star said. These thrusts had
reached the KoroStishev sector,
within so miles of Kiev, but there
were numerous indications that the
Russians considered their hold on
the Ukrainian capital firm.
The retreat from Zhitomir, most
serious setback of the 1943 cam
palgn, apparently was ordered by
the Russian supreme command
when it was found impossible to re-
inforce troops holding that newly
captured junction on the Leningrad-
Odessa railway. The Red Army
forces withdrew to positions more
advantageous" for defense, a Soviet
communique said.
Support for Left Flank.
However, the drive against Cher
kasi, midway between Kiev and
Dnepropetrovsk. staged by airborne
troops and guerrillas, gave the Rus
slams additional support for their
left flank against reinforced enemy
units and brought new threats of
encirclement to German forces in
that salient.
Capture Of zhitomir by the Ger
mans failed to reopen rail communi-
cations between the German armies
In the Ukraine and White Russia,
and occupation of Ovruch further
widened the gap between the enemy
forces. Russian paratroopers, as at
Cherkasi, played a key role in the
storming of Ovruch, the Moscow
communique said.
Two thousand Nazi troops were
reported killed in the assault on
Cherkasi and another 1000 were
wiped out in the battle for Ovruch.
More than 80 towns we're captured
in the latter advance and troop
trains and other military gear fell
into Russian hands.
In all. more than 4,600 Germans
were left dead on yesterdays battle
fields, Moscow reported.
Advance in Rechitsa Area.
Another Soviet advance was re-
ported in the Rechitsa area in
White Russia, where Gen. Constan-
tin Rokossovsky's army advanced
to within six miles of the confluence
of the Dnieper and Berezina rivers.
This point is Is miles from Zhlo-
bin, capture of which would seal off
all rail lines leading to the be-
leaguered German-held city of
Gomel.
Capture of Ovruch brought a
salute of II salvos from 124 guns
for the 4th Guard Airborne Division,
ordered by Premier Stain. Ovruch,
just south of the White Russian
border, was the fourth big German
held stronghold captured by the
Red Army in the last six days. Al
though Zhitomir fell yesterday, the
two others, Korosten and Rechitsa,