Evening star., 1944-02-17
Resistance al Pskoy
Increases, Germans
Menace Riga Railway
Push Across Lake Peipus
And Southword Would
Sever Trunk Line
BY EDDY GILMORE.


Associated Press War Correspondent.
MOSCOW, Feb. 1.-THE Red
Army met increased resistance
as It drove on the great COM
munications hub of Pskov from
two directions today, but north
west of the city, where Lake
Peipus joins Lake Pskov, Soviet
troops who captured the town of
Samolva, developed a new threat
to the PSkov-Riga trunk railway
Samolva is on the eastern shore
Of the Lake Peipus Narrows, which
are less than mile wide In some
places. Any push across here, fol-
lowed by a drive to the south, would
land the Russians along the railway
and highway leading to Riga. All
told, 1t would mean a march of only
I25 miles.
Greatest Threat to City.
This newest threat to Pskov is the
most dangerous confronting the city
anchor of the German defense sys-
tenn in that area.
Russian parachutists have
landed behind the German lines
at Narva and Russian naval YES
sells in the Gulf of Finland are
pounding the defenses of the an
cient Estonian city, Helsinki dis
patches to Stockholm said today.
The landings were said to have
been made in the vicinity of Val
vara, Is miles west of Narva on
the road to Reval, Estonian cap
ital.
according to Berlin, Soviet
forces were striking across frozen
Lake Peipus in the direction of
Tartu, ancient cathedral city Is
miles west of the prewar Estonian
frontier)
The army newspaper Red Star
said that the Germans were count
erattacking violently south and
southeast of Gdov in the Lake Pei
pus region, where the Russians are
80 miles from Pskov.
Nazis Blow Up Bridges.
On the twin drive south and
southwest from Luga, where the
Russian troops swept up 80 towns
and villages during the last "a hours
the Red Army met hard going as it
pressed down both sides of the Len
ingrad-Pskov railway. Red Star
said the Nazis were blowing up all
railway and road bridges in the sec
tor and were building tree barri-
cades across the trunk highway
which runs in a southwesterly di-
rectlon between Luga and Pskov.
The Russians, however, are using
tactics which the Germans SEEM
lngly are unable to meet-going off
the highway to cut around fortified
villages and then seizing German
communications in the rear.
In the upper corner of the Dnie-
per bend the Red Army subdued
Field Marshal Fritz Won Mannsteint
heavy tank thrusts north of Zhen-
lgorodke yesterday and recapturec
two important towns, Yablonovks
and Taraschcha, respectively 10 anc
% miles southeast of Belya Tserkov
Nazis Try to Break Trap.
Defeated here, Won Mannsteir
launched new counterblows to the
southwest of Zhenigorodka seeking
to penetrate Russian lines and re.
lieve the encircled 10 German di-
visions near Korsun, but dispatches
reported the attacks were repulsec
and that the toll of Nazi tanks
scared toward the 100 mark.
The trapped Nazis were making
desperate efforts to get out of the
narrowing pocket with their re.
naming tanks. All such attempts
SO far have been repulsed by Soviet
artillery and mortar fire, while
hundreds of enemy troops have
been cut down by machine guns. Al
least $500 Nazis were killed in tn.
latest escape thrust, . Russian wal
bulletin said.