Kirovsk (Russian: Ки́ровск) is a town and the administrative center of Kirovsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the left bank of the Neva River, 33 kilometers (21 mi) east of St. Petersburg. Population: 25,650 (2010 census); 24,361 (2002 census); 23,655 (1989 Soviet census).
Kirovsky District (Russian: Ки́ровский райо́н) is an administrative and municipal district (raion), one of the seventeen in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It is located in the center of the oblast and borders with Volkhovsky District in the east, Kirishsky District in the southeast, Nevsky and Kolpinsky Districts of the federal city of St. Petersburg in the west, Tosnensky District in the southwest, and with Vsevolozhsky District in the northwest. From the north, the district is bounded by Lake Ladoga. The area of the district is 2,590.46 square kilometers (1,000.18 sq mi). Its administrative center is the town of Kirovsk. Population (excluding the administrative center): 62,533 (2010 census); 60,221 (2002 Census); 74,725 (1989 Soviet census).
The Neva (/ˈniːvə/ NEE-və, UK also /ˈneɪvə/ NAY-və; Russian: Нева́, IPA: [nʲɪˈva] ) is a river in northwestern Russia flowing from Lake Ladoga through the western part of Leningrad Oblast (historical region of Ingria) to the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. Despite its modest length of 74 kilometres (46 mi), it is the fourth-largest river in Europe in terms of average discharge (after the Volga, the Danube and the Rhine).
The Neva is the only river flowing from Lake Ladoga. It flows through the city of Saint Petersburg, the three smaller towns of Shlisselburg, Kirovsk and Otradnoye, and dozens of settlements. It is navigable throughout and is part of the Volga–Baltic Waterway and White Sea–Baltic Canal. It is the site of many major historical events, including the Battle of the Neva in 1240 which gave Alexander Nevsky his name, the founding of Saint Petersburg in 1703, and the Siege of Leningrad by the German army during World War II. The river played a vital role in trade between Byzantium and Scandinavia.