(until 1946, Tilsit), a city under oblast jurisdiction in Kaliningrad Oblast, RSFSR. Port on the left bank of the Neman River; junction of railroad lines to Kaliningrad, Radviliskis, and Cherniakhovsk. Located 123 km northeast of Kaliningrad. Population, 41,000 (1975).
A castle of the knights of the Livonian Order was founded in what is now Sovetsk in 1288 and a Prussian fortress was built on the site of the castle between 1406 and 1409. A settlement that arose near the fortress was designated the city of Tilsit in 1552 and later became a trade center of East Prussia. Tilsit was captured by Russian troops in 1757 and 1914. Emperor Alexander I and Emperor Napoleon I concluded the Treaty of Tilsit of 1807 in the city. Tilsit became part of Germany in 1871. As a result of the East Prussian Operation of 1945, it was taken by storm by Soviet troops on January 19–20. In accordance with a decision of the Potsdam Conference of 1945, a portion of East Prussia, including Tilsit, was turned over to the USSR.
Sovetsk has a pulp-and-paper combine, factories for the production of clothing, tricot, and cardboard, a plant for the construction of fishing vessels, a flour mill, a brewery, a plant for the production of yeast, a fruit cannery, and a meat-packing combine. The city has a school of cinematography, a cultural-education school, and a drama theater.
a city and the administrative center of Sovetsk Raion, Kirov Oblast, RSFSR. It is situated near the mouth of the Pizhma River (a tributary of the Viatka), 103 km south of the Kotel’nich railroad junction. Major landing on the Viatka. Population, 18,000 (1975). Industry includes the production of felt footwear, lace, knitwear, gloves, construction materials, and wood products. Sovetsk is the site of the Suvod’ State Forestry Establishment-Technicum; it also has medical and pedagogical schools and a museum of local lore.
a city (since 1954) in Shchekino Raion, Tula Oblast, RSFSR. It is situated on the Upa River (Oka River basin), 16 km southeast of the Shchekino railroad station on the Tula-Orel line. Sovetsk is the site of the Shchekino State Regional Electric Power Plant, which operates on coal from the Moscow coal basin.