Smolensk

A city of western Russia on the Dnieper River west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in the ninth century, it became an important port situated on various medieval trade routes. It was sacked by Mongols in the 13th century and captured by Lithuania, Russia, Poland, and Russia again in turn before being seized by Napoleon's troops in 1812. A shipping point for the surrounding agricultural region, it is also an industrial, cultural, and educational center. Population: 319,000.