RUSSIAN ANARCHY BOLSHEVIK CLAIMS THE MENACE TO RIGA

Wireless messages sent out by the Bolsheviks claim many successes of more or less importance during the last week of December, in the neighbourhood of Gomel, Reval, Pernau, Vilna, Bielgorod, Minsk, Walk, &c. The general impression which Lenin and his associates are trying to convey is that the progress of the “Red” army is continuous and irresistible, and that it is only a question of time when the greater part of Russia shall be subdued by the Bolshevik forces. How far these claims have any substantial basis it is impossible to say, but there is no doubt that from the military point of view they are grossly exaggerated. The truth seems to be that the Germans are vacating Russia as quickly as possible, that as they retire the “Reds” advance and occupy towns and villages, and that here and there some skirmishing takes place, in which both sides sustain a certain number of casualties. Yesterday the Russian wireless stations circulated the following: Dec. 30 – In the Reval direction our detachments have advanced as far as the line Loksha-kolk … after two days’ fighting. In the Riga direction we have taken Romotzkoe, fifteen versts (ten miles) from Wenden. On the right bank of the Dvina we have taken Romorshof. On the Sventziany-ponevesh railway we have taken Ussiany. A French transport ship has arrived at Odessa with two battalions of Turos Arabs and Algerians on board. Ufa, the capital of the White Guards on this side of the Urals, was taken by our troops on Dec. 31. On the same day the town of Sterlitamack, south of Ufa, was captured. The Lithuanian bourgeois Government Tariba feel their situation so endangered that they have left Vilna for Kovno. It must be remembered that the wireless is at present the sole means of rapid communication between Russia and the outside world, and that it is entirely in the hands of the Bolsheviks, who are therefore free to circulate whatever stories they choose without much risk of direct contradiction. As to the strength of the Bolshevist army, there is no definite evidence. In the Baltic Provinces the “Red” advance is creating a serious peril to Riga. Wiring from Copenhagen on Tuesday, Reuter says: Reports received here from Riga, viâ Berlin, state that the town people are panic-stricken at the rumour that the Bolsheviks are advancing on Riga, and are now only thirty kilometres (about nineteen miles) distant from that town. Several families have already fled, fearing bloodshed. The Russian fleet, it is added, will attempt to put to sea from Kronstadt to meet the British Fleet in the Baltic. The Russian Dreadnoughts Poltava and Sevastopol, together with some cruisers manned by Letts and Esthonians, have already put to sea, but were immediately fired upon from the Finnish coast. They have now returned to Kronstadt owing to dissensions on board ship. The Esthonians are endeavouring to organise resistance, and Allied naval aid is already on the spot. It is also reported that Swedish volunteers have been landed. On Monday the following Esthonian communiqué was issued from Reval; Our men of war bombarded the enemies’ batteries in the villages of Kolgo and Vakko and silenced them. Our troops landed and cleared the peninsulas of Juminda and Perispee of the enemy. A French naval squadron, consisting of one battle cruiser, one light cruiser, and three destroyers, rounded the Skaw on Tuesday morning en route to the Baltic. According to a Stockholm Reuter message: A Finnish news agency reports that the formation of an Esthonian auxiliary expeditionary force from Finland has been enthusiastically supported, and over 10,000 volunteers have come forward. The first detachment started yesterday for Esthonia. Thousands of fugitives belonging to the Russian bourgeoisie have arrived on the Finnish eastern frontier in order to form fighting units against the Bolsheviks, with the intention of beginning an offensive against Petrograd. A Helsingfors telegram states that the steamer Raskee which was recently captured by the Bolsheviks, has been retaken by the British, who have also taken two Russian destroyers. – Reuter.