Every year the population of Russian cities is increasing. Demography is one of the main economic indicators of urban development, so it is important to track the dynamics of population changes. INNOV has prepared a list of the largest cities in Russia. The population of cities was used as the main indicator.
According to Rosstat, large cities in Russia can be divided into several groups according to population size. Among them are cities with a population of 1.5 million to 500 thousand inhabitants (15 cities), 43 cities with a population of 500 thousand to 250 thousand inhabitants, and 90 cities with a population of 250 thousand to 100 thousand people.
The largest cities are Moscow and St. Petersburg. INNOV about this earlier.
The largest cities in Russia
Dynamics |
||||||
12 330 126 | 12 197 596 | 132 530 | 1.09 | Moscow | ||
Saint Petersburg |
5 225 690 | 5 191 690 | 34 000 | 0.65 | Saint Petersburg | |
Novosibirsk |
1 584 138 | 1 567 087 | 17 051 | 1.09 | Novosibirsk region | |
Ekaterinburg |
1 444 439 | 1 428 042 | 16 397 | 1.15 | Sverdlovsk region | |
1 266 871 | 1 267 760 | - 889 | -0.07 | Nizhny Novgorod Region | ||
1 216 965 | 1 205 651 | 11 314 | 0.94 | Republic of Tatarstan | ||
Chelyabinsk |
1 191 994 | 1 183 387 | 8 607 | 0.73 | Chelyabinsk region | |
1 178 079 | 1 173 854 | 4 225 | 0.36 | Omsk region | ||
1 170 910 | 1 171 820 | - 910 | -0.08 | Samara Region | ||
Rostov-on-Don |
1 119 875 | 1 114 806 | 5 069 | 0.45 | Rostov region | |
1 110 976 | 1 105 667 | 5 309 | 0.48 | Rep. Bashkortostan | ||
Krasnoyarsk |
1 066 934 | 1 052 218 | 14 716 | 1.40 | Krasnoyarsk region | |
1 041 876 | 1 036 469 | 5 407 | 0.52 | Perm region | ||
1 032 382 | 1 023 570 | 8 812 | 0.86 | Voronezh region | ||
Volgograd |
1 016 137 | 1 017 451 | - 1 314 | -0.13 | Volgograd region |
Cities with a population of 500 thousand to 1 million people
Dynamics |
Subject of the Russian Federation, which includes the city |
|||||
16 |
Krasnodar |
853 848 | 829 677 | 24 171 | 2.91 | Krasnodar region |
17 | 843 460 | 842 097 | 1 363 | 0.16 | Saratov region | |
18 | 720 575 | 697 037 | 23 538 | 3.38 | Tyumen region | |
19 |
Tolyatti |
712 619 | 719 646 | - 7 027 | -0.98 | Samara Region |
20 | 643 496 | 642 024 | 1 472 | 0.23 | Udmurt republic | |
21 | 635 585 | 635 530 | 55 | 0.01 | Altai region | |
22 | 623 424 | 620 099 | 3 325 | 0.54 | Irkutsk region | |
23 |
Ulyanovsk |
621 514 | 619 492 | 2 022 | 0.33 | Ulyanovsk region |
24 |
Khabarovsk |
611 160 | 607 216 | 3 944 | 0.65 | Khabarovsk region |
25 |
Yaroslavl |
606 703 | 603 961 | 2 742 | 0.45 | Yaroslavl region |
26 |
Vladivostok |
606 653 | 604 602 | 2 051 | 0.34 | Primorsky Krai |
27 |
Makhachkala |
587 876 | 583 233 | 4 643 | 0.8 | The Republic of Dagestan |
28 | 569 293 | 564 910 | 4 383 | 0.78 | Tomsk region | |
29 |
Orenburg |
562 569 | 561 279 | 1 290 | 0.23 | Orenburg region |
30 |
Kemerovo |
553 076 | 549 159 | 3 917 | 0.71 | Kemerovo region |
31 |
Novokuznetsk |
551 253 | 550 127 | 1 126 | 0.2 | Kemerovo region |
32 | 534 762 | 532 772 | 1 990 | 0.37 | Ryazan Oblast | |
33 |
Astrakhan |
531 719 | 532 699 | - 980 | -0.18 | Astrakhan region |
34 |
Naberezhnye Chelny |
526 750 | 524 444 | 2 306 | 0.44 | Republic of Tatarstan |
35 | 524 632 | 522 823 | 1 809 | 0.35 | Penza region | |
36 | 510 020 | 510 152 | - 132 | -0.03 | Lipetsk region |
Cities with a population of 250 thousand to 500 thousand people
Tula region |
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Cheboksary |
Chuvash Republic |
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Kaliningrad |
Kaliningrad region |
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Kursk region |
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Ulan - Ude |
The Republic of Buryatia |
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Stavropol |
Stavropol region |
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Balashikha |
Moscow region |
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Magnitogorsk |
Chelyabinsk region |
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Tver region |
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Sevastopol |
City f.z. Sevastopol |
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Ivanovo region |
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Bryansk region |
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Krasnodar region |
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Belgorod |
Belgorod region |
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Nizhny Tagil |
Sverdlovsk region |
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Vladimir |
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Arkhangelsk |
Arhangelsk region |
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Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug |
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Simferopol |
Republic of Crimea |
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Smolensk |
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Volzhsky |
Volgograd region |
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Kurgan region |
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Oryol Region |
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Cherepovets |
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Vologda Region |
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The Republic of Mordovia |
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Vladikavkaz |
Rep. North Ossetia Alania |
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Rep. Sakha (Yakutia) |
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Murmansk |
Murmansk region |
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Podolsk |
Moscow region |
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Tambov Region |
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Chechen Republic |
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Sterlitamak |
Rep. Bashkortostan |
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Petrozavodsk |
Republic of Karelia |
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Kostroma |
Kostroma region |
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Nizhnevartovsk |
Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug |
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Novorossiysk |
Krasnodar region |
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Yoshkar-Ola |
Mari El Republic |
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Komsomolsk-on-Amur |
Khabarovsk region |
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Taganrog |
Rostov region |
Cities with a population of 100,000 to 250,000
Syktyvkar |
Komi Republic |
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Moscow region |
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Kabardino-Balkarian Republic |
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Rostov region |
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Nizhnekamsk |
Republic of Tatarstan |
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Irkutsk region |
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Dzerzhinsk |
Nizhny Novgorod Region |
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Orenburg region |
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Irkutsk region |
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Blagoveshchensk |
Amur region |
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Saratov region |
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Stary Oskol |
Belgorod region |
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Velikiy Novgorod |
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Moscow region |
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Pskov region |
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Altai region |
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Moscow region |
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Prokopyevsk |
Kemerovo region |
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Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk |
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Balakovo |
Saratov region |
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Yaroslavl region |
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Armavir |
Krasnodar region |
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Moscow region |
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Severodvinsk |
Arhangelsk region |
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Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky |
Kamchatka Krai |
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The Republic of Khakassia |
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Norilsk |
Krasnoyarsk region |
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Samara Region |
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Volgodonsk |
Rostov region |
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Novocherkassk |
Rostov region |
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Kamensk-Uralsky |
Sverdlovsk region |
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Chrysostom |
Chelyabinsk region |
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Ussuriysk |
Primorsky Krai |
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Elektrostal |
Moscow region |
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Republic of Bashkortostan |
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Primorsky Krai |
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Almetyevsk |
Republic of Tatarstan |
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Chelyabinsk region |
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Republic of Crimea |
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Berezniki |
Perm region |
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Rubtsovsk |
Altai region |
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Chelyabinsk region |
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Pyatigorsk |
Stavropol region |
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Krasnogorsk |
Moscow region |
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Republic of Adygea |
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Moscow region |
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Odintsovo |
Moscow region |
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Vladimir region |
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Khasavyurt |
The Republic of Dagestan |
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Kislovodsk |
Stavropol region |
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Serpukhov |
Moscow region |
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Novomoskovsk |
Tula region |
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Neftekamsk |
Rep. Bashkortostan |
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Novocheboksarsk |
Chuvash Republic |
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Nefteyugansk |
Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug |
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Pervouralsk |
Sverdlovsk region |
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Shchyolkovo |
Moscow region |
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Cherkessk |
Karachay-Cherkess Republic |
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The Republic of Dagestan |
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Rostov region |
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Orekhovo-Zuevo |
Moscow region |
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Nevinnomyssk |
Stavropol region |
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Domodedovo |
Moscow region |
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Dimitrovgrad |
Ulyanovsk region |
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Tyva Republic |
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Oktyabrsky |
Rep. Bashkortostan |
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The Republic of Ingushetia |
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Volgograd region |
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Kaluga region |
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New Urengoy |
Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug |
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Kaspiysk |
The Republic of Dagestan |
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Vladimir region |
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Ramenskoye |
Moscow region |
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Novoshakhtinsk |
Rostov region |
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Zhukovsky |
Moscow region |
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Tomsk region |
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Moscow region |
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Noyabrsk |
Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug |
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Evpatoria |
Republic of Crimea |
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Essentuki |
Stavropol region |
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Lipetsk region |
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Krasnoyarsk region |
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Primorsky Krai |
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Sergiev Posad |
Moscow region |
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Nizhny Novgorod Region |
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Republic of Kalmykia |
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Novokuibyshevsk |
Samara Region |
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Novosibirsk region |
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Moscow region |
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Dolgoprudny |
Moscow |
". The material provides an infographic of the change in the population of Russian cities with a population of more than 500 thousand people for five-year periods since 1970.
The sizes of the icons in the pictures correspond to the population of the city at the end of the period under review (500 thousand-1 million people and 1 million - 4 million people and more than 4 million people in order of increasing icon size). The color of the icon characterizes the change in population over the period. Cities with a population of less than 500,000 are not shown in the figures. But tables 1 and 2 reflect the change in the population of all cities that have ever reached 500 thousand people from 1970 to 2015.
Pictures are clickable.
Data taken from the collections "Russian Statistical Yearbook" and " National economy RSFSR".
Table 1 - Change in the population of cities with more than 500,000 people. in any year in 1970-2015, thousand people
City |
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Saint Petersburg |
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Novosibirsk |
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Ekaterinburg |
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Nizhny Novgorod |
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Chelyabinsk |
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Rostov-on-Don |
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Krasnoyarsk |
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Volgograd |
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Krasnodar |
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Tolyatti |
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Ulyanovsk |
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Khabarovsk |
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Vladivostok |
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Yaroslavl |
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Makhachkala |
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Orenburg |
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Kemerovo |
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Novokuznetsk |
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Astrakhan |
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Naberezhnye Chelny |
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City population 500,000+, total |
Table 2 - Change in the population of cities with more than 500,000 people. in any year in 1970-2015, %.
City |
1970- 1975 |
1975- 1980 |
1980- 1985 |
1985- 1990 |
1990- 1995 |
1995- 2000 |
2000- 2005 |
2005- 2010 |
2010- 2015 |
|
Saint Petersburg |
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Novosibirsk |
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Ekaterinburg |
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Nizhny Novgorod |
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Chelyabinsk |
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Rostov-on-Don |
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Krasnoyarsk |
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Volgograd |
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Krasnodar |
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Tolyatti |
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Ulyanovsk |
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Khabarovsk |
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Vladivostok |
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Yaroslavl |
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Makhachkala |
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Orenburg |
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Kemerovo |
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federal district | Millionaire cities | Half million cities |
---|---|---|
Central | 2 | 3 |
Northwestern | 1 | - |
Volga | 5 | 7 |
Southern | 2 | 2 |
North Caucasian | - | 1 |
Ural | 2 | 1 |
Siberian | 3 | 5 |
Far Eastern | - | 2 |
Crimean | - | - |
Map of the largest cities
Cities with population:
Population
This table shows the data:
- - By census on February 9
- - By census on December 17
- - By
- - By
- - By census on January 15
- - By census on January 17
- - By census on January 12
- - By census on October 9
- - By census on October 14
- - according to current data as of January 1
Colored centers federal districts of the Russian Federation.
Bold centers subjects of the Russian Federation.
№ | city | 1897 | 1926 | 1939 | 1959 | 1970 | 1979 | 1989 | 2002 | 2010 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Moscow | 1039 1039 | 2080 | 4609 | 6133 | 7194 | 8057 | 8878 | 10126 | 11504 | 11980 | 12108 | 12198 | 12330 |
2 | Saint Petersburg | 1265 1265 | 1737 | 3431 | 3390 | 4033 | 4569 | 4989 | 4661 | 4880 | 5028 | 5131 | 5192 | 5226 |
3 | Novosibirsk | 8 | 120 | 404 | 885 | 1161 | 1309 | 1420 | 1426 | 1474 | 1524 | 1547 | 1567 | 1584 |
4 | Ekaterinburg | 0043 43 | 140 | 423 | 779 | 1025 | 1210 | 1296 | 1294 | 1350 | 1396 | 1412 | 1428 | 1444 |
5 | Nizhny Novgorod | 0090 90 | 222 | 644 | 941 | 1170 | 1342 | 1400 | 1311 | 1251 | 1259 | 1263 | 1268 | |
6 | Kazan | 0130 130 | 179 | 406 | 667 | 869 | 989 | 1085 | 1105 | 1144 | 1176 | 1190 | 1206 | 1217 |
7 | Chelyabinsk | 0020 20 | 59 | 273 | 689 | 875 | 1030 | 1107 | 1077 | 1130 | 1156 | 1169 | 1183 | 1192 |
8 | Omsk | 0037 37 | 162 | 289 | 581 | 821 | 1016 | 1149 | 1134 | 1154 | 1161 | 1166 | 1174 | 1178 |
9 | Samara | 0090 90 | 176 | 390 | 806 | 1027 | 1192 | 1222 | 1158 | 1165 | 1171 | 1172 | 1172 | 1171 |
10 | Rostov-on-Don | 0119 119 | 308 | 510 | 600 | 789 | 925 | 1008 | 1068 | 1089 | 1104 | 1109 | 1115 | 1120 |
11 | Ufa | 0049 49 | 99 | 258 | 547 | 780 | 977 | 1080 | 1042 | 1062 | 1078 | 1096 | 1106 | |
12 | Krasnoyarsk | 0027 27 | 72 | 190 | 412 | 648 | 795 | 869 | 909 | 974 | 1016 | 1035 | 1052 | 1067 |
13 | Permian | 0045 45 | 121 | 306 | 629 | 850 | 998 | 1041 | 1002 | 991 | 1014 | 1026 | 1036 | 1042 |
14 | Voronezh | 0081 81 | 122 | 344 | 447 | 660 | 781 | 882 | 849 | 890 | 1004 | 1014 | 1024 | 1032 |
15 | Volgograd | 0055 55 | 151 | 445 | 591 | 815 | 926 | 999 | 1011 | 1021 | 1019 | 1017 | 1017 | 1016 |
16 | Krasnodar | 0066 66 | 163 | 193 | 313 | 460 | 557 | 619 | 646 | 745 | 784 | 805 | 830 | 854 |
17 | Saratov | 0137 137 | 220 | 372 | 579 | 757 | 854 | 902 | 873 | 838 | 839 | 840 | 842 | 843 |
18 | Tyumen | 0030 30 | 50 | 79 | 150 | 269 | 356 | 476 | 511 | 582 | 634 | 679 | 697 | 720 |
19 | Tolyatti | 0006 6 | 6 | 9 | 72 | 251 | 505 | 629 | 703 | 720 | 719 | 718 | 720 | 713 |
20 | Izhevsk | 22 | 63 | 176 | 285 | 422 | 551 | 635 | 632 | 628 | 633 | 637 | 642 | 644 |
21 | Barnaul | 0021 21 | 74 | 148 | 303 | 439 | 534 | 599 | 601 | 612 | 630 | 633 | 636 | 636 |
22 | Irkutsk | 0051 51 | 108 | 250 | 366 | 451 | 547 | 573 | 594 | 588 | 606 | 612 | 620 | 623 |
23 | Ulyanovsk | 0042 42 | 66 | 98 | 206 | 351 | 462 | 624 | 636 | 615 | 615 | 616 | 619 | 622 |
24 | Khabarovsk | 0015 15 | 52 | 207 | 323 | 436 | 526 | 598 | 583 | 577 | 594 | 601 | 607 | 611 |
25 | Vladivostok | 0029 29 | 108 | 206 | 291 | 441 | 549 | 631 | 595 | 592 | 600 | 603 | 605 | 607 |
26 | Yaroslavl | 0072 72 | 116 | 309 | 407 | 517 | 595 | 629 | 613 | 591 | 599 | 602 | 604 | 607 |
27 | Makhachkala | 0010 10 | 34 | 87 | 119 | 178 | 247 | 302 | 462 | 572 | 576 | 578 | 583 | 588 |
28 | Tomsk | 0052 52 | 92 | 145 | 249 | 338 | 423 | 473 | 488 | 525 | 548 | 557 | 564 | 569 |
29 | Orenburg | 0072 72 | 123 | 172 | 267 | 344 | 458 | 517 | 549 | 548 | 556 | 560 | 561 | 563 |
30 | Kemerovo | … | 22 | 137 | 289 | 374 | 461 | 509 | 485 | 533 | 540 | 544 | 549 | 553 |
31 | Novokuznetsk | 3 | 4 | 166 | 382 | 496 | 544 | 583 | 550 | 548 | 549 | 550 | 550 | 551 |
32 | Ryazan | 0046 46 | 51 | 95 | 214 | 350 | 450 | 512 | 522 | 525 | 528 | 530 | 533 | 535 |
33 | Astrakhan | 0113 113 | 184 | 259 | 305 | 410 | 458 | 478 | 505 | 520 | 527 | 530 | 530 | |
34 | Naberezhnye Chelny | 1 | 4 | 9 | 16 | 38 | 305 | 505 | 510 | 513 | 519 | 522 | 524 | 527 |
35 | Penza | 0060 60 | 92 | 160 | 255 | 374 | 482 | 522 | 518 | 517 | 520 | 521 | 523 | 524 |
36 | Lipetsk | 0021 21 | 21 | 67 | 157 | 289 | 394 | 481 | 506 | 508 | 509 | 509 | 510 | 510 |
The total population of these cities is about 44 million people - 30.8% of the total population of Russia and 41.8% of the total urban population of Russia. IN 14 millionaire cities 30,189 thousand people live - 21.1% of the total population population of Russia and 28.7% of the total urban population of Russia.
The last cities to reach half a million status since the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries were Lipetsk , Kemerovo And Astrakhan(repeated after the mid-1980s - mid-1990s), Tomsk(repeated after the late 1980s - early 1990s), Makhachkala. Previously, for a long time (mid-1970s - early 2000s and late 2000s) it was a half-millionaire city, but by now it has dropped out of their number Tula. There are plans to achieve half-millionaire status by cities Cheboksary , Kirov And Stavropol by joining satellite cities Novocheboksarsk (after a negative referendum in 2008, the issue was shelved); Kirovo-Chepetsk , Sloboda; And Mikhailovsk respectively. At the same time, Kirov already has more than 500,000 urban district.
In the current 10th anniversary, due to natural growth, subject to the preservation of the migration rate, cities can become 500,000 Kaliningrad, Kirov, Stavropol , Ulan-Ude And Cheboksary.
see also
- List of cities in Russia with a population of more than 100 thousand inhabitants
- List of cities in Russia with a territory of more than 100 square kilometers
- List of settlements in Russia with a population of more than 10 thousand inhabitants
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An excerpt characterizing the cities of Russia with a population of more than 500 thousand people
And the owner of the manly voice, apparently an infantry officer, laughed.“But you’re still afraid,” continued the first familiar voice. You're afraid of the unknown, that's what. No matter how you say that the soul will go to heaven... after all, we know that there is no sky, but there is only one sphere.
Again the courageous voice interrupted the gunner.
“Well, treat yourself to your herbalist, Tushin,” he said.
“Ah, this is the same captain who stood at the sutler without boots,” thought Prince Andrei, recognizing with pleasure the pleasant philosophizing voice.
“You can get a herbalist,” said Tushin, “but still comprehend the future life ...
He did not agree. At this time, a whistle was heard in the air; closer, closer, faster and more audible, more audible and faster, and the core, as if not having finished everything that was needed, exploding spray with inhuman force, plopped into the ground not far from the booth. The earth seemed to gasp from a terrible blow.
At the same instant, little Tushin jumped out of the booth, first of all, with his pipe bitten on his side; his kind, intelligent face was somewhat pale. Behind him came the owner of a courageous voice, a dashing infantry officer, and ran to his company, buttoning up as he ran.
Prince Andrei stopped on horseback on the battery, looking at the smoke of the gun from which the cannonball flew out. His eyes darted across the vast expanse. He only saw that the hitherto motionless masses of the French were swaying, and that there really was a battery to the left. It hasn't blown smoke yet. Two French cavalry, probably adjutants, galloped up the mountain. Downhill, probably to strengthen the chain, a clearly visible small column of the enemy was moving. The smoke of the first shot had not yet dissipated, when another smoke and a shot appeared. The battle has begun. Prince Andrei turned his horse around and galloped back to Grunt to look for Prince Bagration. Behind him he heard the cannonade becoming more frequent and louder. Apparently, ours began to respond. Below, in the place where the parliamentarians were passing, rifle shots were heard.
Lemarrois (Le Marierois) with a formidable letter from Bonaparte had just galloped to Murat, and the ashamed Murat, wanting to make amends for his mistake, immediately moved his troops to the center and bypassing both flanks, hoping even before evening and before the arrival of the emperor to crush the insignificant one who stood in front of him, squad.
"Began! Here it is!" thought Prince Andrei, feeling how the blood began to rush to his heart more often. “But where? How will my Toulon be expressed? he thought.
Passing between the same companies that ate porridge and drank vodka a quarter of an hour ago, he everywhere saw the same quick movements of soldiers lining up and dismantling their guns, and on all faces he recognized the feeling of animation that was in his heart. "Began! Here it is! Scary and fun! the face of every soldier and officer spoke.
Before he even reached the fortification under construction, he saw in the evening light of a cloudy autumn day horsemen advancing towards him. The front man, in a cloak and cap with fur coats, rode a white horse. It was Prince Bagration. Prince Andrei stopped, waiting for him. Prince Bagration stopped his horse and, recognizing Prince Andrei, nodded his head to him. He continued to look ahead while Prince Andrei told him what he had seen.
Expression: "It has begun! here it is!" it was even on the strong brown face of Prince Bagration with half-closed, cloudy, as if sleepy eyes. Prince Andrei peered into this motionless face with restless curiosity, and he wanted to know whether he was thinking and feeling, and what he thought, what this man felt at that moment? "Is there anything at all behind that motionless face?" Prince Andrei asked himself, looking at him. Prince Bagration bowed his head, in agreement with the words of Prince Andrei, and said: “Good,” with such an expression as if everything that happened and that he was told was exactly what he had already foreseen. Prince Andrei, shoved from the speed of the ride, spoke quickly. Prince Bagration uttered the words with his oriental accent especially slowly, as if suggesting that there was nowhere to hurry. However, he trotted his horse in the direction of Tushin's battery. Prince Andrei, together with his retinue, went after him. Prince Bagration was followed by: an officer of the retinue, the prince's personal adjutant, Zherkov, an orderly, an officer on duty on a beautiful english horse, and a state official, an auditor, who, out of curiosity, asked to go to battle. The auditor, a stout man with a full face, looked around with a naive smile of joy, shaking on his horse, imagining a strange sight in his camlot overcoat on a furshtat saddle among hussars, Cossacks and adjutants.
“He wants to see the battle,” Zherkov said to Bolkonsky, pointing to the auditor, “but it hurt in the pit of the stomach.
“Well, that’s enough for you,” said the auditor, with a radiant, naive, and at the same time sly smile, as if he were flattered that he was the subject of Zherkov’s jokes, and as if he deliberately tried to appear more stupid than he really was.
- Tres drole, mon monsieur prince, [Very funny, my lord prince,] - said the officer on duty. (He remembered that in French the title prince is somehow especially pronounced, and he could not fix it in any way.)
At this time, they were all already approaching Tushin's battery, and a cannonball hit ahead of them.
- What did it fall? the auditor asked with a naive smile.
“French cakes,” said Zherkov.
- This is what they beat, then? the auditor asked. - What a passion!
And he seemed to be full of pleasure. As soon as he finished, an unexpectedly terrible whistle was heard again, suddenly ending with a blow to something liquid, and sh sh sh slap - a Cossack, riding a little to the right and behind the auditor, with his horse collapsed to the ground. Zherkov and the officer on duty crouched down in their saddles and turned the horses away. The auditor stopped in front of the Cossack, examining him with attentive curiosity. The Cossack was dead, the horse was still beating.
Prince Bagration, screwing up his eyes, looked around and, seeing the reason for the confusion that had occurred, turned away indifferently, as if saying: is it worth doing stupid things! He stopped the horse, with the reception of a good rider, leaned over a little and straightened the sword caught on the cloak. The sword was an old one, not like the one worn now. Prince Andrei recalled the story of how Suvorov in Italy presented his sword to Bagration, and at that moment this memory was especially pleasant to him. They drove up to the very battery at which Bolkonsky stood when he was examining the battlefield.
- Whose company? - Prince Bagration asked the fireworks, standing by the boxes.
He asked: whose company? but in essence he was asking: are you not timid here? And the fireworker figured it out.
“Captain Tushin, Your Excellency,” shouted a red-haired fireworker with a freckled face, stretching out in a cheerful voice.
- So, so, - said Bagration, thinking something, and drove past the limbers to the extreme gun.
While he was driving up, a shot rang out from this cannon, deafening him and his retinue, and in the smoke that suddenly surrounded the cannon, artillerymen were visible, grabbing the cannon and, hastily straining, rolling it back to its original place. A broad-shouldered, huge soldier of the 1st with a banner, legs wide apart, jumped back to the wheel. The 2nd, with a trembling hand, put a charge into the muzzle. A small, round-shouldered man, officer Tushin, stumbled on his trunk and ran forward without noticing the general and looking out from under his small hand.
“Add two more lines, that’s exactly what will happen,” he shouted in a thin voice, to which he tried to give a youthfulness that did not suit his figure. - Second! he squeaked. - Crush, Medvedev!
Bagration called out to the officer, and Tushin, with a timid and awkward movement, not at all like the military salute, but like the priests bless, putting three fingers to the visor, approached the general. Although Tushin's guns were assigned to bombard the hollow, he fired fire-brandskugels at the village of Shengraben, which was visible ahead, in front of which large masses of the French advanced.
No one ordered Tushin where and with what to shoot, and he, after consulting with his sergeant major Zakharchenko, for whom he had great respect, decided that it would be good to set fire to the village. "Fine!" Bagration said to the report of the officer and began to look around the entire battlefield that opened before him, as if thinking something. On the right side, the French came closest. Below the height on which the Kiev regiment stood, in the hollow of the river, the erratic rumble of guns was heard, and much to the right, behind the dragoons, the retinue officer pointed out to the prince at the French column that was bypassing our flank. To the left the horizon was limited to a close forest. Prince Bagration ordered two battalions from the center to go for reinforcements to the right. The retinue officer dared to remark to the prince that after the departure of these battalions, the guns would be left without cover. Prince Bagration turned to the retinue officer and looked at him with dull eyes in silence. It seemed to Prince Andrei that the remark of the retinue officer was just and that there really was nothing to say. But at this time an adjutant galloped up from the regimental commander, who was in the hollow, with the news that huge masses of the French were coming down, that the regiment was upset and was retreating to the Kyiv grenadiers. Prince Bagration bowed his head in agreement and approval. He walked at a pace to the right and sent an adjutant to the dragoons with orders to attack the French. But the adjutant sent there arrived half an hour later with the news that the dragoon regimental commander had already retreated beyond the ravine, for strong fire had been directed against him, and he was wasting people in vain and therefore hurried shooters into the forest.
- Fine! Bagration said.
While he was driving away from the battery, shots were also heard to the left in the forest, and since it was too far to the left flank to have time to arrive on time himself, Prince Bagration sent Zherkov there to tell the senior general, the same one who represented the regiment to Kutuzov in Braunau, so that he retreats as quickly as possible behind the ravine, because the right flank will probably not be able to hold the enemy for a long time. About Tushin, and the battalion that covered him, was forgotten. Prince Andrei carefully listened to the conversations of Prince Bagration with the chiefs and to the orders he gave, and noticed to his surprise that no orders were given, and that Prince Bagration only tried to pretend that everything that was done out of necessity, chance and the will of private chiefs, that all this was done, if not by his order, but according to his intentions. Thanks to the tact shown by Prince Bagration, Prince Andrei noticed that, despite this randomness of events and their independence from the will of the chief, his presence did an extremely great deal. The commanders, who drove up to Prince Bagration with upset faces, became calm, the soldiers and officers greeted him cheerfully and became livelier in his presence and, apparently, flaunted their courage in front of him.
Prince Bagration, having driven to the highest point of our right flank, began to descend, where erratic shooting was heard and nothing was visible from the powder smoke. The closer they descended to the hollow, the less they could see, but the more sensitive became the proximity of the real battlefield itself. They began to meet the wounded. One with a bloody head, without a hat, was dragged by two soldiers by the arms. He wheezed and spat. The bullet hit, apparently, in the mouth or throat. Another, whom he met, was walking briskly alone, without a gun, groaning loudly and waving his hand in fresh pain, from which blood was pouring, like from a glass, onto his overcoat. His face looked more frightened than hurt. He was wounded a minute ago. Having crossed the road, they began to descend steeply and on the descent they saw several people who were lying; they met a crowd of soldiers, some of whom were not wounded. The soldiers walked uphill, breathing heavily, and, despite the appearance of the general, they talked loudly and waved their hands. Ahead, in the smoke, rows of gray overcoats were already visible, and the officer, seeing Bagration, ran screaming after the soldiers marching in a crowd, demanding that they return. Bagration rode up to the ranks, along which here and there shots quickly clicked, drowning out the conversation and shouts of command. All the air was saturated with gunpowder smoke. The faces of the soldiers were all smoked with gunpowder and animated. Others beat them with ramrods, others sprinkled them on the shelves, took out charges from their bags, and still others fired. But whom they were shooting at, this was not visible from the powder smoke, which was not blown away by the wind. Quite often, pleasant sounds of buzzing and whistling were heard. "What it is? - thought Prince Andrei, driving up to this crowd of soldiers. “It can't be an attack because they don't move; there can't be carre: they don't cost that much."
A thin, weak-looking old man, a regimental commander, with a pleasant smile, with eyelids that more than half closed his senile eyes, giving him a meek air, rode up to Prince Bagration and received him as the host of a dear guest. He reported to Prince Bagration that there was a French cavalry attack against his regiment, but that, although this attack was repulsed, the regiment lost more than half of its people. The regimental commander said that the attack was repulsed, giving this military name to what was happening in his regiment; but he really did not himself know what was happening in those half an hour in the troops entrusted to him, and could not say with certainty whether the attack was repulsed or his regiment was defeated by the attack. At the beginning of the actions, he only knew that cores and grenades began to fly all over his regiment and beat people, that then someone shouted: “cavalry”, and ours began to shoot. And so far they have been shooting not at the cavalry, which disappeared, but at the French foot soldiers, who appeared in the hollow and fired at ours. Prince Bagration bowed his head as a sign that all this was exactly as he wished and assumed. Turning to the adjutant, he ordered him to bring two battalions of the 6th Chasseurs from the mountain, past which they had now passed. Prince Andrei was struck at that moment by the change that had taken place in the face of Prince Bagration. His face expressed that concentrated and happy determination that a person has when he is ready to throw himself into the water on a hot day and takes the last run. There were no sleepy dull eyes, no feigned thoughtful look: round, hard, hawk-like eyes gazed forward enthusiastically and somewhat contemptuously, obviously not stopping at anything, although his former slowness and measuredness remained in his movements.
The regimental commander turned to Prince Bagration, begging him to drive back, as it was too dangerous here. "Have mercy, your Excellency, for God's sake!" he said, looking for confirmation at the retinue officer, who was turning away from him. "Here, if you please, see!" He let them see the bullets, which incessantly squealed, sang and whistled around them. He spoke in such a tone of request and reproach, with which a carpenter says to a master holding an ax: “Our business is familiar, but you will get your hands wet.” He spoke as if he himself could not be killed by these bullets, and his half-closed eyes made his words even more convincing. The staff officer joined in the exhortations of the regimental commander; but Prince Bagration did not answer them and only ordered them to stop firing and line up in such a way as to make room for the two battalions that were approaching. While he was talking, as if by an invisible hand stretched from right to left, from the rising wind, a canopy of smoke that hid the hollow, and the opposite mountain with the French moving along it opened up before them. All eyes were involuntarily fixed on this French column, moving towards us and meandering along the ledges of the terrain. The furry hats of the soldiers were already visible; it was already possible to distinguish officers from privates; one could see how their banner fluttered on the staff.