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Brest-Litovsk Has Fallen To Germans, (^issian Say(Continued from Page 1.)The Russians said they had driven the Germans out of Russia at one point.“In the Shaulai and Ravarus ska, direction, the enemy in the morning pierced into our territory but was defeated in the alter noon and driven by our counter-attacks beyond the state frontier,’* the communique said.“In the Shaulai area about 300 enemy tanks were destroyed by our artillery fire.“Our air force carried out successful operations in protecting our troops, airdromes, populated areas and military objectives, against enemy air raids and cooperated in the counter-attacks of our land forces.“During the day our aircraft and anti-aircraft artillery shot down 51 enemy planes over our territory while one enemy plane was forced down by our fighters on an airdrome near Minsk.“During June 23 and 23, Soviet troops captured about 5,00G German officers and men.“According to the latest information 76 and nut 65 'enemy planes—as stated in the communique of the Red army high command for June 22—were brought down during June 22.”The communique did not reveal the depth of the German penetration, but indicated the Germans at some points were from 10 to 15 miles inside Soviet territory, and that the fiercest fighting was in the former Poland and Lithuanian regions.Counter-attacking Soviet troops, it said, drove the Germans back across ike frontier from the Shaulai (ShavII) “direction” of| Lithuania and destroyed 300 tanks.(Shaulai is about 100 miles inside the old Lithuania from East Prussia and about 75 miles north of Kaunas, former Lithuanian capital. The communique did not indicate that the Germans actually had reached the town and the term “direction” was vague but the text of the communique indicated the action had occurred along the frontier.(It indicated the Germans were seeking to drive straight up the Baltic coast toward the great Soviet naval base at Leningrad).The towns of Kolno and Lam-zha, which the Russians admitted tbe Germans occupied, are northeast of Warsaw, and represent an advance of about 10 miles after ihe Germans crossed the Narew river.The third town seized by the Germans, Brest-Litovsk, is 100 miles southeast of these cities. It is on the Bug river, another dividing hue in the long irregular German-Russian frontier.GERMAN REPORTBerlin, June 23. —(£)— The German advance against Russia is progressing swiftly and according to precise schedule, the people were told by nazi military leaders today.Speed in attacks and even more speed in following up and exploiting every advantage, were said to feature the mighty nazi offensive along 2.000 miles of battlefront.German bombers carried the war in its opening stages yesterday to a Russian Black Sea submarine base, unidentified, where oil stores were set afire, said D.N.B., official German news agency. The attack was intense likewise the defense, it was said for minor damage was acknowl-eged to a few German planes.Battles in AirThe luftwaffe “very successfully continued” the attack on Russian army airports during the day, informed sources said. D.N.B., tabulating Sunday’s air battles over Poland, reported 35 Russian planes shot down.The news agency also said the German-Rumanian advance into Bessarabia was continuing. Itsmilitary report told of nazi in fantry units breaking through Red fortified lines in many places, with hand-to-hand fighting in the streets of one unidentified village.The descriptions of the fighting painted for Germany a now familiar picture. Prisonets were coming in, armored detachments were charging forward in a general offensive, bombers — Level and Stuka—roared and screamed.Many Fires Rage The first actual pictures of the actiou showed the smoke of many fires rolling over the steppes and marshes.Tbe high command, with economy of phrase, characteristic for this stage of a campaign, summarized land operations in a short sentence. All operations, it said simply, were “proceeding on schedule and successfully.”While there were rumors that this or that great city had been captured or was under heavy bombardment there was no confirmation Lo be had in Berlin.While millions of German troops stormed the fortress and homeland of communism, tbe German. navy carried the struggle into the Black and Baltic seas.Nazi speedboats darting about in Russian coastal waters in the eastern Baltic sank a Soviet patrol boat and four Russian merchant vessels aggregating 5,950 tons, the communique announced. In the Black sea German and Rumanian Itght naval forces scouted successfully, escaping the shells of Russian coastal batteries.
Newspaper Details
Independent
Helena, Montana, US
Tue, Jun 24, 1941
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Vidmantas V.
NA, 09 Feb 2024
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