Bryansk
[key], city (2020 est. pop. 399,000), capital of Bryansk region, central
European Russia, on the Desna River. The city is a rail transportation hub,
and it forms an important industrial district with nearby Bezhitsa, with
which it was incorporated in 1956. There are ironworks and locomotive,
machine, and cement plants. Bryansk is also a major distribution center for
natural gas. Originally called Brinyu and later Debryansk, the city was
first known in 1146. For a time it was the capital of a principality.
Bryansk later passed to Lithuania and in the 16th cent. was annexed by
Muscovy. It served as a fortress until the 19th cent. Soil in the Bryansk
region was contaminated by radioactive fallout from the 1986 explosion at
the Chernobyl nuclear
power station.
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