[1] It stretches from southwest to northeast from the Belarusian city of Orsha to Yuriev-Polsky.
Its highest point is 320 m (northeastern part of Smolensk).
The Dnieper (west) and the Volga (east) rivers drain its hill.
The watersheds feed three seas: the Baltic (Kasplya → Western Dvina), Black (Dnieper) and the Caspian (the Volga, the Oka River and their tributaries).
It is covered with mixed forests, dominated by spruce and birch.