Sozh River
From 7 August to 2 October, the 49th Army participated in the Smolensk Operation, advancing towards Spas-Demensk, Stodolishche, and Khislavichi in its first phase, the Spas-Demensk Offensive. Operating in conjunction with the 33rd Army, the army recaptured Spas-Demensk on 13 August. Overcoming fierce German resistance, the army reached the line of Tsirkovschina and Zimtsy. Resuming the attack in the Yelnia-Dorogobuzh Offensive on 28 August, the army advanced through the forests south of Yelnya and crossed the Desna River and the Sozh River. On 28 September the army recaptured Mstsislaw, and in early October reached the Pronya River in the Drybin Raion, 35 kilometers north of Chavusy, where it went on the defensive.