The Msta (Russian: Мста) is a river in Tver and Novgorod Oblasts of northwestern Russia, a tributary of Lake Ilmen.

The source of the Msta is in Lake Mstino in the Valdai Hills immediately north of the town of Vyshny Volochyok.

Up to mid-19th century, Msta, which belongs to the river basin of the Neva, had been a part of an important water trade route connecting the Baltic and Caspian seas due to the very short distance between the Tsna, then the tributary of Lake Mstino, and the Tvertsa, a left tributary of the Volga.

[2] By the middle of the 19th century, after opening of the Volga–Baltic Waterway and the Moscow – Saint Petersburg Railway, the significance of the Msta as a transport route has decreased.

The lowest 134 kilometres (83 mi) of the Msta, downstream of the selo of Mstinsky Most, are listed as navigable in the State Water Register of Russia.