13 Skelly News of the World

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. From the NBC studios in Chicago, Scali Oil Company presents the first network news commentary of the day. This is Lewis Rowan speaking in the absence of Alex Dryer. On the Russian front, the Red Army has opened a new major offensive.

And hearing to their familiar flexible strategy, the Soviets, while maintaining their heavy pressure on the Germans in the southern sector of the long battle line, have launched a powerful drive in the center of the front.

The scene of this latest action is in the pre-pet marshes stretching from the northern Ukraine into pre-war Poland. Overcoming strong German defenses, the Russians broke through on a 20-mile wide front, scoring advances up to 10 miles in depth and capturing 30 towns and villages.

The new offensive is apparently designed to prevent the Germans from building up the difficult terrain of the pre-pet marshes as a protective bastion for their flanks to the north and to the south. Just below the pre-petmashes, the Red Army has broadened its lines in pre-war Poland with the seizure of the important railroad junction of Sarni and several neighboring settlements.

The loss of Sarni was an especially heavy blow to the enemy's communication system. It deprived the Germans of the last North-South railroad in eastern Poland, and it might force them back as far as 85 miles to the west, where the next rail link is available to them for the movements of men and material.

But at the south, the Russians have tightened their ring around the Nazis in the Dnieper Loop with new advances on various sectors. As was to be expected, the Germans are making desperate efforts to hold on to their positions in that area.