Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1944-01-02
Reds Drive to Within ~ Miles
Of Old Poland as Demora|ized
Nazis Abandon Guns in FIiqht
German DebucIe
Termed Greatest
Since Stolingrod
BY the Associated Press.

SHISC StOiniSiOu
BY the Associated Press.
LONDON, Sunday, Jan. 2.-Re6
Army troops-captalizing on the
greatest German military de-
bacle since Stalingrad-lungec
to within 81 miles of the prewal
Polish border yesterday in pur-
suit of demoralized German
troops who were throwing away
their guns, Moscow announced
early today.
Inf1icting huge losses on the Nazis
Gen. Nikolai Vatutin's LIST Ukrainiar
Army captured Belokorovichi OF
the Kiev-Warsaw railway and alst
began an enveloping drive on Novo
grad Volynski, rail and highway
junction less than 20 miles from
Poland. Novograd Volynski is tn,
last German stronghold barring the
way to a Red Army smash int
Poland.
AS the advance of Gen. Vatutin'.
men threatened the possible entrap.
ment of so German divisions in the
Southern Ukraine, Russian guerril-
las operating behind the Nazi line.
were revealed to be wrecking key
enemy rail lines and trains in the
region Of the Rumanian border.
The Russian war bulletin, record
ed here by the Soviet monitor, also
announced that Gen. Ivan Bagra-
mian's LIST Baltic Army had swept
through % more villages west and
northwest of Newell, reaching points
within so miles of the Latvian
border.
Hundreds Taken Prisoner.
On the ninth day of the great
break-through toward Poland and
Rumania by Gen. Vatutin's men the
communique said the Russians had
captured 300 more villages and ham
let's. Hundreds of Germans were
being moved down in flight or taken
prisoner, it added.
The Germans were abandoning big
guns, hundreds of trucks and great
stores of ammunition as the Russians
plunged on through gaps torn in a
200 mile stretch of the German east
wall.
With the capture of Belokorovichi,
an important rail center, the LIST
Ukrainian Army had advanced some
% miles beyond Korosten at the
northwestern end of the Kiev salient.
Gen. Vatutin's army also was NOV
ing on Berdichev, another key rail
center Is miles below captured Zhi-
tomir. Along the southern side of the
Kiev salient his forces had out
fanked Belaya Tserkov in a drive
pointed at the Bug River near Vim
nitSa.
Nazis DemOralized.
The war bulletin said $500 Ger
mans were killed in the Kiev salient.
Front dispatches told of the Ger
mans retreating so fast they left
decorated Christmas trees in their
quarters while the scope of the Nazi
decentralization was underlined by
the Soviet communicated reference
to the routing of German divisional
headquarters.
A Moscow dispatch from Eddy
Gilmore, Associated Press CORE
spondent, said it was obvious that
Gen. Vatutin now was throwing his
strongest force into the southwest
toward Rumania in a thrust which
already has all but surrounded Ber-
dichev, the one-time headquarters
of the retreating German COM
mander, Field Marshal Fritz Won
Mannstein. SOVIET spearheads are
within 80 miles of Rumania.
The advance in this direction was
the most rapid of all.
The dispatch said the Nazis ever
were failing to demolish bridges, sc
hasty was their retreat over the
rolling ground which is frozen but
has little snow to impede the rapid
movement of Russian mechanical
infantry and motorized artillery
units supporting the tank spear
heads.
The Russian Army newspaper Red
Star reported one instance where
Russian troops attacking west OF
Korosten swooped into one town SO
rapidly that the New Year dinners
(See RUSSIA, Page A-1O)