Velikiye-Luki

City in the Pskov oblast (region) of the northwestern Russian Federation, on the Moscow-Riga railway 450 km/280 mi west of Moscow; population (1996 est) 116,000. Its main industries are engineering works and factories producing peat-cutting machinery and textiles.

Known since 1166, Velikiye-Luki's position near the Lithuanian frontier made it an important fortress and trading point of the medieval Novgorod Republic. It was annexed to Muscovy in 1478. The city was the scene of bitter fighting between Soviet and Nazi forces in 1942-43, and was largely destroyed.