Evening star., 1944-04-10


OF Odessa, and said the fall of
the city had cleared away a
major obstacle to "the central
regions of Romania."
By the Associated Press.
LONDON, April 10.-Odessa,
greatest port on the Black Sea
and first major prize of Hitler's
invasion of Russia, has fallen
to the Red Army, Berlin an
nounced today.
Evacuation of the naval base was
acknowledged by the German COM
mand, which also declared the Rus
slams were striking out in an ap-
parent full-blown offensive to clear
the Crimea.
The communique broadcast from
Berlin said heavy fighting was in
progress on broad front from the
Sivash to the Perekop sectors on
the norh side of the Crimea 18TH
mus and the Russians were pene-
trating the garrison lines.
Cut of from all but sea commu-
nications, in the same way the
Odessa force was almost isolated, it
appeared that the Germans and
Romanians in the Crimea might
be forced to yield the last of the
strong Black Sea outposts guarding
the Rorna Yiar sea flank
Held by Nazis 21a Years.
The evacuation of Odessa was car
ried out, the Germans said, after
long planned destruction of mill
tary installations and removal of all
ships and vehicle transport-a state
ment which seemed to indicate they
had fled by sea in part.
Odessa, only a little more than
20 miles inside the 1889 Russian
border, was captured by the Ger
mans two and a half years ago after
a two-month defense by besieged
Russian soldiers, workers and ma
rines who made their stand amidst
the rubble and lagoons. The pre-
war population of Odessa was
500, 900.
1t was the first of the dramatic
sieges of Russian cities-Sevastopol,
Leningrad and Stalingrad-which
have marked the war.
1t had been expected that the
Germans would make a similar
death stand there in the current
retreat.
But the swift Russian advance
struck down southwest of the city,
almost slicing it off, and the Ger
mans-by their own accountable
not care for such a siege as the
Russians endured. Recent estimates
placed the number of Germans and
Romanians in Odessa at 100000 to
100000.
Drive to Railway Station.
Moscow declared one Red Army
column had smashed to a railway
station 3 miles north of Odessa yes
terday and that another, sweeping
II miles southwest of the port. had
seized Mariental, miles from the
Odessa -Ovidiopol railway, the only
retreat road for the thousands of
Nazis and Romanians defending the
city.
The Russians were only miles
from Ovidiopol itself, a bottleneck
ferry terminus on this railway, and
their guns commanded both the rail
stretch and vulnerable ferry point.
Liberation of Odessa came as
other Soviet forces invading Ro-
mania overran 200 more villages and
virtually isolated the railhead of
Iasi.
The German broadcast which told
OF the evacuation of Odessa also
declared that Germans trapped
above Razdelnaya, Russian held
rail town As miles northwest of
Odessa, had pushed their way out
saying the Russians have also un-
successfully attempted to interfere
with our disengagement movements
there
Five or six broken German divi-
sions were trapped in this sector
Moscow had announced, with 5000
of them killed in two days.
2,400 More Nazis Slain
Far TO the northwest of Odessa
Moscow reported another 2,400 Ger
mans slain in the diminishing Skala
pocket, and front dispatches said
the Russians were pushing beyond
the Czech border near the en-
trance to the Tartar Pass, KEY to
the Hungarian plain.
The Sd Ukrainian Army of Gen
Rodio Y. Malinovsky seized 81 towns
on the west and north approaches
to Odessa yesterday, Soviet COM
munique said.
The bulletin said the Germans
were utilizing all estuaries. ravines
hills and other natural advantages
in the Odessa defense belt. The
Nazis blew up a dam to food one
coastal road, but engineers wading
In deep freezing water built cross
ing and the Russians struck over the
estuary to seize Fontanka.
In the offensive into Rumania
most of the points seized by the
Russians yesterday were near Iasi
former German Army headquarters
which was half encircled
Rail Route Severed.
This surge sliced the rail route
from Iasi 43 miles west to Pascani
a junction on the main line south to
Bucharest, and only 160 miles
northwest of the Ploesti oil fields
Marshal Ivan S. Konev's troops cap
tured Cucutehi, three miles west of
(Se RUSSIA, Page A-5D
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