Russian Mogilyov
City (pop., 2001 est.: 361,000), east-central Belarus, on the
It was founded in 1267 as a fortress and became a town in 1526 while under Lithuanian rule. Later passing to Poland, it became Russian in the first partition of {{link=Poland, partitions of">Poland in 1772. In 1812 a major battle between Napoleon 's troops and Russian forces was fought outside the town. It was severely damaged in World War II; rebuilt after the war, it is now a major industrial city.