Vashka_River
Vashka
River in Russia
The Vashka (Russian: Вашка) is a river in Udorsky District of the Komi Republic and Leshukonsky and Mezensky Districts of Arkhangelsk Oblast in Russia. It is a left and the biggest tributary of the Mezen. It is 605 kilometres (376 mi) long, and the area of its basin 21,000 square kilometres (8,100 sq mi). The principal tributaries of the Vashka are the Mytka (left), the Loptyuga (right), the Yortom (left), the Yevva (right), the Sodzim (right), the Puchkoma (left), the Zyryanskaya Yezhuga (left), and the Chulas (right).
The source of the Vashka is in the south-west of Udorsky District, close to the border with Arkhangelsk Oblast. The river flows in the general direction of north-west. In the upper course, the Vashka flows in the hilly landscape, and in the lower course it meanders leaving a big number of lakes. The urban type settlement of Blagoyevo is located on the Venyu River, several kilometers east of the Vashka, and the selo of Leshukonskoye, the administrative center of Leshukonsky District, is located on the left bank of the river just upstream from its confluence with the Mezen.
The Vashka freezes up in late October and remains icebound until early May. The river was used for timber rafting till the 1990s.
The Vashka is navigable downstream from the village of Keba, which is almost the whole course of the river within Leshukonsky District.