Smolensk Oblast

   An administrative region of the Russian Federation. Smolensk Oblast is located on the Eastern European Plain along Russia’s western frontier with Belarus. Within the federation, it borders the oblasts of Pskov, Tver, Moscow, Kaluga, and Bryansk. Smolensk is part of the Central Federal District and Economic Region. With approximately 1 million inhabitants, the region’s territory covers 49,800 square kilometers. The regional capital, Smolensk (pop. 325,000), lies on the Dnepr, which roughly divides the oblast into northern and southern halves. Regional agriculture is focused on animal husbandry and grain production. Smolensk was severely ravaged by the German invasion; however, postwar reconstruction allowed the region to develop into an important industrial center. Major industries include metalworking, computer manufacturing, power generation, chemicals, printing, and clothing. The region is comparatively poor in terms of natural resources, though coal and peat are mined. Smolensk Kristall, Russia’s leading diamond polisher and exporter, is located in the region. Gazprom is also a key part of the regional economy, as the oblast is a major transit zone for European-bound natural gas exports. Regional trade with Belarus is quite high, and the oblast controls the Moscow-Minsk highway, which serves as a route for Polish and German foreign trade with Russia.

   In the 1990s, Smolensk was part of the Red Belt of regions that supported the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF). The KPRF’s Gennady Zyuganov won a majority of the regional poll in the 1996 presidential election. The KPRF dominated the regional Duma, while its allies controlled the governorship, including Anatoly Glushenkov (1993–1998) and Aleksandr Prokhorov (1998–2002). In 2002, the pro-Kremlin candidate, Viktor Maslov, a security services officer, was elected to lead the region, thus demonstrating a new trend in regional politics; the election was marred by reports of intimidation of Prokhorov supporters by Maslov and his agents. Maslov was reappointed by Vladimir Putin. Since 2007, the governor has been Sergey Antufiev, who previously managed relations between the State Duma and compatriots in the Commonwealth of Independent States. In 2009, Antufiev welcomed the new patriarch Kirill I to the region, where the head of the Russian Orthodox Church was made an honorary citizen of the oblast. The Russian-American science-fiction author Isaac Asimov and the first person to orbit the earth, Yury Gagarin, were both born in the region.

   See also Alrosa; Space program.