The longest tributary of the Dnieper River, Ukraine’s largest waterway, is Desna. The river originates in Russia, in the Smolensk region, and flows into the Dnieper just above Kiev. The total length of the Desna is 1130 km.
Location
The Desna River, a map of which will be given below, flows in only four areas. Two of them are Russian: these are the Bryansk and Smolensk regions. In Ukraine, Desna flows in the Kiev region and, to the greatest extent, in Chernihiv.
General characteristics
Desna is a river, into which only 31 tributaries flow, of which eighteen are right and thirteen are left. The total area of the water basin is 90 thousand square meters. The depth of the bottom is on average from 2 to 4 meters, but in some places this value can increase to 17. At the mouth of the river, the width of the water reaches 450 meters. Prior to the Seim, the largest tributary, the Desna River is not very wide, and the Seimas expands it to 300 meters, although earlier values come across much smaller. For example, in Novgorod-Seversky, its width on city beaches can be as little as 20-30 meters, although outside the city this value increases by two, or even three or four times. The difference in width often occurs due to the fact that the water artery is very ornate, flows through different types of terrain and has a huge number of turns, so sometimes it is not clear whether the big river is in front of us or small.
A related factor is that the flow velocity is different. People who love relaxation on the Desna River choose places where it is more or less calm so that they can swim and relax without incident, which, incidentally, is quite common. The speed of the current is such that the inept swimmer can easily carry to the depths or sweep the wave. The bottom of the Desna is uneven: either you stand waist-deep in the middle of the river, or suddenly under the very shore you cannot reach the bottom.
The statistics of tragic cases, unfortunately, is not so small already, but this, in principle, is no longer associated with the course of the river, but with the fact that people are careless and do not know the basic rules of behavior on the water. Many run headlong diving without scouting the bottom.
From shipping to cleaning issues
It was also noted that regular navigation from Novgorod-Seversky to the estuary and cruising of a bulk carrier upstream are taking place on the river. But the situation is such that every year the Desna (river) becomes smaller. Increasingly, in the vast expanses of water you can only see motor boats or tourist boats. The problem is that, unfortunately, no one is engaged in river cleaning. All sand, silt, garbage, waste is generously dumped both by ordinary citizens, and by the whole enterprises. For the river to be full, clean, full, you need to clean it, but you need to spend money on it. And the state, as usual, does not have budget funds for these expenses.
Where does the water in the Desna come from?
The water of the river is fed to the greatest extent by melting snow. In the spring, usually the Desna is very spilled, and this has been observed for quite a long time. Its waters are flooded with meadows, which make up the lion's share of the territories in its valley. The more snow falls in the winter, the cooler the spring, the more vast and longer it fills these same Desna meadows (river). The photo of the flood at the monastery in Novgorod-Seversky describes in the best possible way what kind of landscape can be expected in the spring.
In addition, it flows through forest strips, and also in its valley there are many bays and lakes. To call the Desna monotonous and uninteresting will not turn anyone's tongue.
What is remarkable can be seen along the river?
There are many ancient cities of Ukraine on the Desna River. For example, Novgorod-Seversky, already mentioned above, is the city of Drevlyans, founded in 989. It is located in the Chernihiv region.
The city is of great historical value: many events related to Kievan Rus took place in it, and even in earlier times. There are also many interesting cultural and historical monuments. But, unfortunately, over the years, Novgorod-Seversky is becoming less and less in terms of population. The economy and industry in the city are not developing, even a powerful tourist base is simply idle unnecessarily, and young people prefer to go to larger cities, where there are at least some prospects.
Desna in the news
More recently, the news slipped that the Desna (a river that was previously clean enough, up to which the fish soup was cooked from its water) was subjected to unauthorized dumping of production waste, that is, there are also authorized discharges. Nevertheless, the research results did not show a deterioration in water quality. And it is true, in order to see this result, it is enough just to enter the river clean and go dirty. No research will show anything. Only girl’s hair will show, which after staying in the gingival waters can be styled without gel as you wish. This, of course, is an exaggeration, but the fact remains that there is pollution, and it is necessary to deal with it, and not to conduct examinations that show that the water is still relatively clean.
What else can the Desna River attract? Fishing - an interesting activity for most men - is also quite possible here. So what can be caught in these waters?
Desna Fish
Fishermen point out the possibility of catching pike in the waters of the river, and pikeperch, perch, sabrefish, bream, roach are also successfully caught. Permanent inhabitants are burbot, common carp, podust, barbel, and rudd. But such specimens come across to fishermen not as often as they would like. Places, as they say, need to know.