Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1944-08-11
Russian Forces
Press Drives on
Ti|sit, Meme|
Threat to Warsaw
Also Increased by
Northeastern Advance
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
MOSCOW Aug. 11.-Russian
armies applying a great pincers
on East Prussia swept today
within so miles of Tilsit and
Memel and threatened the
southern boundary of that home
of the Junkers with a plunge
across the Narew River.
Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky
besieging Warsaw for the 18th day,
sent a threatening army group to-
ward East Prussia from positions
northeast OF the Polish capital. This
group increased the menace to War;
saw, too. because it could curve to
the Vistula and outfank the Polish
city from the north.
Russian troops already were 7 or
more miles inside the SuWalki Tri-
angle, which Germany annexed to
East Prussia from Poland in 1899.
In the north, the Soviet army
group of 37-year-old Gen. Ivan
Cherniakovsky sent bombs and ar
tillery shells into the German
province and fought bitter and re-
Ceated counterattacks at several
gateways to East Prussia.
In this great action, the Ger
mans began reporting that they
were greatly outnumbered. On
the threat to the south of East
Prussia, DNB, the official Ger
aan news agency. said the Rus
nians started a new offensive yes
t. day between Warsaw and
iugustow with strong forces,
which made some generations
Russians Widen Breach.
A hundred miles or so south of
Warsaw the Russians widened the
breach across the Vistula River to AZ
miles and advanced to within Is
miles of Kielce. In that area the
Red Army stood within rs miles of
German SileSia and within IS of
Krakow, ancient capital of Poland
and her fifth city.
(1he Germans reported that
another bridgehead had been
established over the Vistula 80
miles south of Warsaw in the
Warka area
The determination of Germans
trapped in the upper Baltic states
neared its final phase. Two captured
German generals said more than 30
German divisions (perhaps 100000
or more mem would be wiped out
when the Baltic drive was finished
However. some thousands of the
Germans, whose land communica-
lions were cut by Russian plunge to
the Baltic Is miles west of Riga,
may still be eXtricated by sea. The
Red Air Force continued to pounce
on any shipping seen moving from
Baltic harbors.
East Prussia and Warsaw were the
focal points of battle.
Highway Is Cut.
OF equal peril to Hitlers eastern
divisions was the extension of the
Soviet bridgehead across the Vistula
south of the Polish capital, which
cut the Sandomierz-Kielce highway
with the capture of Lagow and put
Red Army troops only 20 miles from
the vital Warsaw-Krakow railway.
In the drive northeast of Warsaw
big Soviet force south of Bialy-
stok sWarmed across the Narew
River in a move 20 join other Red
Army columns pushing up from the
south in drive on the southern
border of East Prussia.
The Russians advanced on a
broad front on both sides of the
Niemen River. The batteline moved
through 40 localities and extended
south to Raudone, on the Niemen
20 miles east of the East Prussia
border. 1t crossed to the south bank
at Globoslaventsvo and ran through
Aszmuce and Valyule.
Captured AMmuce is miles
northeast of the Sakiai road juno
ton and only IL miles from the
East Prussian frontier, while VAL
yule, 2 miles east of Sakiai, is II
miles from East Prussia.
50 Localities Captured.
The drive on the southern side of
East Prussia netted so localities on
the western side of the Narew.
Among towns seized were WaneWo,
30 miles east of Lomza, Nazi
stronghold linking Axis defenses be-
tween Warsaw and East Prussia,
and Sokoly, % miles southeast of
LomZa.
ueofWounded: