Smolensk

Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River. Situated 360 kilometers (220 mi) west-southwest of Moscow, this walled city was destroyed several times throughout its long history since it was on the invasion routes of both Napoleonic France and Nazi Germany. Today, Smolensk is noted for electronics, textiles, food processing and diamonds facetting.

Smolensk in The War That Came Early
By January, 1941, the combined forces of Germany, Poland, France and Britain had advanced so far into Soviet territory that plans were being made by the invaders to encircle and capture Smolensk. It was assumed that once Smolensk fell, Moscow would fall in short order.

Smolensk in Southern Victory
Smolensk was an industrial center of the Russian Empire. In 1943, during the Second Great War, Minsk suffered heavy aerial bombardment by the German Empire.