The Desna is a river in Russia and Ukraine, a major left-tributary of the Dnieper. Its name means "right hand" in the Old East Slavic language. It has a length of 1,130 km (702 mi), and its drainage basin covers 88,900 km2 (34,324 sq mi).

The Dnieper, also called Dnipro or Dniapro, is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately 2,200 km (1,400 mi) long, with a drainage basin of 504,000 square kilometres (195,000 sq mi), it is the longest river of Ukraine and Belarus and the fourth-longest river in Europe, after the Volga, Danube, and Ural rivers.