[Armoured vehicles and small tanks passed by, covered in grime, on their way through the village of Tsepilovo. One of the tanks had stopped; some black substance oozed from it. A group of local fellows nudged one another and sniggered: "Just like lambs. Whenever they stand somewhere they make a puddle." For a while they whispered and chuckled amongst themselves; then they jostled one of their older members until he finally stepped forward and asked the tank driver, "What's the trouble, lads? You've only just crossed the border and already you've broken down?" The driver clenched his teeth and muttered, "We've already been on the road for three months!" * ]

* In June 1940, under the Soviet-Romanian agreement the state border between the USSR and Romania was re-established along the rivers of Prut and Danube. The troops of the Southern Front were brought into Bessarabia and the Northern Bucovina annexed from the Soviet state in 1918.