Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1944-04-13

- CiC lLlClihO caucasian
Army, advancing westward
along the Black Sea coast of
the Crimea, has captured
Feodosiya, Premier Stain an
nounced today.
BY the Associated Press.
MOSCOW, April Kuban
Cossack cavalry, light tanks and
columns of motorized artillery
vanguards of Gen. Feodor I.
Tolbukhin's 4th Ukrainian Army
racing down through the Crimea
were within sight today of the
tall buildings of Simferopol,
capital of the former Crimean
republic, and only 35 miles north
of the Black Sea naval base of
Sevastopol.
Tolbukhin's army was striking
toward Simferopol from the north
and northwest in its drive down the
Central Crimean railroad from
Karacha-Kangil, II miles to the
north. Yesterday his troops had
crashed through crumbling Axis
forces for record plunge of 40
miles from Dzhankoi.
A correspondent of the Moscow
newspaper Pravda attached to Toll
bukhin's army reported that panic
was spreading among the retreating
Axis troops, especially the Roman
lans, who were said to have been &C.
MED motorized transport by the
Germans.
Officers Abandoning Men.
Zone entire Romanian division
was reported to have fed knowing
it would be abandoned by the truck
columns who were taking only Ger
mans aboard" the correspondent
said.
Other dispatches asserted that
German officers were abandoning
their own men as the Russian forces
pressed forward.
Driving in from the liquidated
Kerch Peninsula to the east, Gen.
Andrei I. Yeremenko's army drove
other German and Romanian troops
down the Black Sea coastal road
toward Feodosiya and were reported
to be less than Is miles from that
important evacuation port, already
under bombardment by planes of
the Black Sea fleet.
Other Soviet warplaneS were blast
ing detectives in front of the ad-
vancing ground forces, including
what the correspondent of Red Star,
army newspaper, called caravans
of enemy ships" apparently heading
for Romanian ports across the Bla ok
| Sea.
On the Russian mainland to the
north of the Crimea, Russian armies
yesterday captured both Tiraspol, SO
miles northwest of Odessa, and
Falticeni, 60 miles south of Cernauti
and ITO miles north of the Ploesti
oil fields, Russian communicate re-
corded in London announced.
Moose Drawn Tighter.
At the same time Red Army
troops drew tighter the moose
around the Skala pocket north of
the Middle DneStr River, where
the remnants of Is German di-
visions-possibly 100000 men-faced
humiliation.
Mopping up southwest of liberated
Odessa, Gen. Rodion Y. MalinovSkys
Sd Ukrainian Army was credited by
the Russians with capturing five
more towns, including Kalagleya, S
miles north of Ovidiopol, which is
the terminus of the railroad from
Odessa on the Dnepr Lagoon and
the shortest direct route toward
Romania for the remnants of the
garrison of fallen Odessa.
The Red Army troops which cap
tured Tiraspol by preaching a pow
erful defense zone with which the
enemy apparently had hopes to pin
down a large Soviet force, immedi-
ately crossed the Dnestr River to
establish bridgeheads on the west
bank, Moscow reported Other col
umns captured Dubossary and Girl
goriopol, % and 20 miles northeast
and east of the Bessarabian capital
of Chininau, which is now threat
ened with enlightenment.