Evening star., 1943-08-30

mainly through minenelds left by
the retreating Germans in the
Taganrog area.
A city with normal population
of 10000, Taganrog had been in
German hands since the early sum-
mer of l942.
The Nazi forces first swept though
it in early November, 1941, during
their original drive into Russia, a
drive which carried 40 miles onward
| to RoStov. Strengthened Russian
forces, however, recaptured Rostov
in November and the Germans fell
back beyond Taganrog.
The Germans 1912 summer drive
again brought both Taganrog and
| Rostov within German occupied
territory, but last winter the Rus
slams drove the enemy out of virtu-
ally all the Caucasus and recap
tured Rostov on February ID.
The Soviet communique today in
dicated that fast-moving Soviet
columns south and west of Kharkov
are threatening 100000 Nazi troops
in the Donets Basin salient with
possible encirclement.
The Russians advanced 3 to 7la
miles to recapture so villages, in
cluding the railroad junction of
Lyubetin, Is miles west of Kharkov
on the Kursk-Kiev line, the war
bulletin announced.
A German plan for a counter
offensive against Kharkov was re-
ported to have been disrupted by
the Red Army capture of Liubotin.
A Pravda dispatch said the Ger
mans made supreme attempt to
hold Liubotin, planning to use it as
springboard for their attack on
Kharkov, but a powerful Russian
push yesterday drove them out of
the city.
The push seemed to be aimed at
by-passing the big Nazi base at
Poltava, IS miles to the south and
west of Kharkov, on the north. At
the same time another Soviet spear
head farther south was pointing in
the direction of Krasnograd, in a
drive apparently aimed at pinching
off the base just as the Nazi bastion
at Orel was cut off earlier this sum-
mer.
Action on the Kharkov and Voro-
shilovgrad fronts thus seemed to be
rapidly blending into one gigantic
drive by which the Russians hoped
to reach the sweeping eastward bend
-.
the vicinity of Dniepropetrovsk,
thus imperiling the whole Nazi po-
sition in the Donets Basin.
Destroy Installations.
Russian airrnen ranging far and
wide over German-held territory to
bomb and strafe troop concentra-
tions and supply depots reported the
Germans were destroying their own
military installations in evident
preparation for further Withdrawals
toward the west.
The Russian communique indi-
Gated that the southern end of the
long eastern battle line was at pres
ent the focal point of the summer
offensive, but the columns which
were stalled temporarily in the ad-
vance on the important Nazi base at
Bryansk, 200 miles southwest of
Moscow, by unfavorable terrain and
heavy German demolitions, were
again on the move.
The war bulletin announced that
the Red Army had advanced nine
miles and had captured 40 villages
in the sector south of Bryansk. The
spearhead reaching west In the new
battlefront opened last week at
Sevsk, 100 miles south of Bryansk.
advanced to capture 16 villages, the
communique said
German losses were heavy along
the entire front, the Russians an
rotiriced. III the southern sector
around Kharkov and Voroshilovgrad
alone 5000 Germans were reported
killed aspstfaes Nazi high command
hurled eounterattacks at the Red
Army In an effort to halt the steady
march toward the Dnieper. One
thousand Germans were killed in
fighting around Bryansk, the Soviet
communique added.