German quarters stated that the Soviet High Command had massed all available reserves for defence of the powerful Stalin Line, and they indicated that fighting was continuing with unparalleled bitterness. Soviet defenders were showing extreme obstinacy in the face of the Nazi attacks, these quarters added.
With "short, sharp blows" the Russians inflicted heavy losses on the enemy in the Polodsk sector, the announcement states. In the Lepel region two German motorized regiment and four heavy and light artillery batteries are said to have been wiped out.
The Russian air force hammered German mechanized units and aerodromes day and night, destroying 102 German planes in combat and on the ground.
The Red Army has inflicted a big defeat on mechanized forces in the level sector northeast of Minsk and the northern arm of the Nazi thrust towards Smolensk and Moscow, the announcement continues, The German thrust towards Leningrad in the north and towards Kiev in the south, appears to have been held up by counter-attacks.
South of the Pripet marshes in the Novograd and Volnysk area the Russians were still holding the German drive directed at Kiev, capital of the Ukraine. Heavy fighting continued in the Barkovitch sector. During Tuesday night the Russian air force Nazis Claim Capture Of Ostrov London, July 9.
Berlin radio, quoting the official D.N.B. news agency, said that German troops today occupied Ostrov, Pernau and Fellin—United Press. destroyed 62 enemy planes, losing seven." The Russians lost 10 planes in day operations.
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