Yelnya (Russian: Е́льня) is a town and the administrative center of Yelninsky District in Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Desna River, 82 kilometers (51 mi) from Smolensk, the administrative center of the oblast.

[citation needed] It was first mentioned in the historical documents in 1150[2] when according to the order of knyaz Rostislav of Smolensk it was to pay a tax of four grivnas and a fox skin.

[citation needed] The settlement shared the history of the Smolensk lands—it paid duty to the Golden Horde, then was captured by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

It was returned to Russia with the rest of the Smolensk Voivodeship at the close of the Russo-Polish War of 1654–1667.

[2] In 1812, during the French invasion of Russia, Yelnya became an important center of the partisan movement.

[10] On 12 July 1929, governorates and uyezds were abolished, and Yelninsky District with the administrative center in Yelnya was established.

[1] As an administrative division, it is, together with ten rural localities, incorporated within Yelninsky District as Yelninskoye Urban Settlement.