In response to this protest, Berlin, on May 13, advised the Soviet
Government through the Russian Ambassador in Berlin, that Germany would
stop the invasion of Russian territory, and that it would observe the
Brest-Litovsk treaty and restore the rights of Russians residing in
Germany. In spite of this assurance, however, the advance of the German
Army in Great Russia did not cease. According to a Moscow dispatch,
dated May 25, the Germans occupied the district town of Valuyki, in
the Government of Voronezh, which is Great Russian territory, and
made further advances. The occupation was preceded by a battle which
lasted four days. The Teutons also continued their operations in the
Don region, where a battle occurred near Bataisk, and in the Caucasus.
They mined the Strait of Kerch, or Yenikal, known to the ancients as
the Cymmerian Bosporus, which is the only passage from the Black Sea
into the Sea of Azov. German airships appeared over Novorossysk, on
the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, and their submarines entered
its port. This was done apparently to intimidate the Transcaucasian
Government, which refused to cede Novorossysk to Turkey. About the same
time Bolshevist detachments crossed the Caspian, attacked the Turks and
recaptured the port of Baku. Another battle was won by the Russians
over the Turco-German troops in the Kars district of Transcaucasia on
May 24. The enemy retreated along the Ardahan road, massacring the
population as they went.
Early in June the Germans made a further advance in the south, namely,
in the Roslav region and in the district of Rylsk, Government of Kursk.
They advanced from the Rostov Railway toward Voronezh and captured
Roventki. They also made an attempt to cut the Tsaratsyk Railway near
the Kumyigar River. On June 10 the Germans started a new movement
eastward along a front sixty miles wide, between Valyiki, captured
previously, and Zhukovo.