Following the Mongol invasion, Rzhev passed to a lateral branch of the Smolensk dynasty, which made the town its capital.

In the meantime, the town was occupied for a short space by Tver, Poland-Lithuania, and finally by the Grand Duchy of Moscow.

[10] In the 18th century, local merchants, mainly of Old Believer confession, brought a great measure of prosperity to the town.

On 12 July 1929, governorates and uyezds were abolished, and Rzhevsky District with the administrative center in the town of Rzhev was established.

More than one-sixth of the population was sent off to forced labor in Germany during the Nazi occupation and some nine thousand residents were shot, starved, or tortured to death in a concentration camp set up in the center of town.

These operations, which resulted in a great loss of civilian and military life, are commonly referred to as the Battles of Rzhev and almost completely wiped out the population of the town.

Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko attended the unveiling, leaving roses at the base of the statue.

The Battles of Rzhev (Russian: Ржевская битва) were a series of Soviet operations in World War II between January 8, 1942, and March 31, 1943.

Due to the high losses suffered by the Soviet Army, the campaign became known by veterans and historians as the "Rzhev Meat Grinder" ("Ржевская мясорубка", Rzhevskaya myasorubka).

[16] As a highly controversial move, in 2013 the Joseph-Stalin Museum was opened in a building where Joseph Stalin had spent one night in 1943 while inspecting the troops.