  thumb|295px|the catchment area of river svir and its main tributaries. svir () is a river in podporozhsky, lodeynopolsky, and volkhovsky districts in the north-east of leningrad oblast, russia. it flows westwards from lake onega to lake ladoga, thus connecting the two largest lakes of europe. it is the largest river flowing into lake ladoga. the length of the svir is , whereas the area of its drainage basin is . the towns of podporozhye and lodeynoye pole, as well as urban-type settlements voznesenye, nikolsky, vazhiny, and svirstroy are located at the banks of the svir. after peter the great connected the svir with the neva river by the ladoga canal in the 18th century, the river has been part of the mariinsky water syatem, currently the volgaâbaltic waterway. the onega canal is a bypass of lake onega from the south, which connects the svir with the vytegra river. the svir is heavily used for navigation, with both cargo traffic and cruise ships. there are two dams with hydroelectric power plants on the river. the lower svir hydroelectric station, located in svirstroy, sits  from the river's mouth while the upper svir hydroelectric station, located in podporozhye, is  away. above the upper svir hydroelectric station, the svir is built as the ivinsky razliv reservoir. locks are built around both dams. since the svir flows out of lake onega, its drainage basin occupies a vast area, spanning the south of the republic of karelia, the north and the east of leningrad oblast, the northwest of vologda oblast, and also includes minor areas in arkhangelsk oblast (the basin of the ileksa river). the main tributaries of svir proper are the vazhinka river (right), the oyat river (left), and the pasha river 
Neva_basin Rivers_of_Leningrad_Oblast