On 12 July 1929, governorates and uyezds were abolished, and Rudnyansky District with the administrative center in Rudnya was established. The district belonged to Smolensk Okrug of Western Oblast. On August 1, 1930, the okrugs were abolished, and the districts were subordinated directly to the oblast. On 27 September 1937 Western Oblast was abolished and split between Oryol and Smolensk Oblasts. Rudnyansky District was transferred to Smolensk Oblast. Between 1941 and September 1943, during World War II, the district was occupied by German troops.[9][11]
Rudnya is known as the maiden battle target of the famous Soviet multiple rocket launchers Katyusha. On July 14, 1941, an experimental artillery battery of seven launchers was first used in battle at Rudnya, under the command of Captain Ivan Flyorov, destroying a concentration of German troops with tanks, armored vehicles, and trucks at the marketplace, causing massive German Army casualties and its retreat from the town in panic.
The R120 highway connecting Smolensk with the state border between Russia and Belarus, and continuing across the border to Vitebsk, passes Rudnya as well. The R130 highway connects Rudnya to Demidov.
Culture and recreation
Rudnya contains a number of protected cultural heritage monuments, including the monument to the first Katyusha rocket launcher military usage during World War II in Rudnya.[13]
Rudnya at one point had a Shtetl status, meaning that the village had a large concentration of Jews living in it. Jewish families first arrived after the Pale of Settlement was established in the western Russian Empire in 1791, granting Jews the legality to live in this settlement area. In 1926, there were 2235 Jews in Rudnya, nearly half of the village's population at the time. Many Jews in Rudnya moved to larger cities such as Leningrad and Smolensk in the early 1900s due to the newly established Communist driven industrial boom in larger cities. Of the nearly 2000 Jews who remained in the village during WWII, most were killed by the Nazis during the Holocaust after a ghetto was established in Rudnya. Local Jews were shot to death in several murder operations between 1941 and 1943.[16]
^Федеральная служба государственной статистики. Федеральное агентство по технологическому регулированию и метрологии. №ОК 033-2013 1 января 2014 г. «Общероссийский классификатор территорий муниципальных образований. Код 66 638 101». (Federal State Statistics Service. Federal Agency on Technological Regulation and Metrology. #OK 033-2013 January 1, 2014 Russian Classification of Territories of Municipal Formations. Code 66 638 101. ).
^"Об исчислении времени". Официальный интернет-портал правовой информации (in Russian). June 3, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
^Почта России. Информационно-вычислительный центр ОАСУ РПО. (Russian Post). Поиск объектов почтовой связи (Postal Objects Search) (in Russian)
Администрация Смоленской области. Постановление №261 от 30 апреля 2008 г. «Об утверждении реестра административно-территориальных единиц и территориальных единиц Смоленской области», в ред. Постановления №464 от 27 июня 2014 г. «О внесении изменений в реестр административно-территориальных единиц и территориальных единиц Смоленской области». Опубликован: База данных "Консультант-плюс". (Administration of Smolensk Oblast. Resolution #261 of April 30, 2008 On the Adoption of the Registry of the Administrative-Territorial Units and Territorial Units of Smolensk Oblast, as amended by the Resolution #464 of June 27, 2014 On Amending the Registry of the Administrative-Territorial Units and Territorial Units of Smolensk Oblast. ).
Смоленская областная Дума. Закон №76-з от 1 декабря 2004 г. «О наделении статусом муниципального района муниципального образования Руднянский район Смоленской области, об установлении границ муниципальных образований, территории которых входят в его состав, и наделении их соответствующим статусом», в ред. Закона №111-з от 23 ноября 2011 г. «О внесении изменений в областной Закон "О наделении статусом муниципального района муниципального образования Руднянский район Смоленской области, об установлении границ муниципальных образований, территории которых входят в его состав, и наделении их соответствующим статусом"». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Вестник Смоленской областной Думы и Администрации Смоленской области", №12, часть II, стр. 104, 5 декабря 2004 г. (Smolensk Oblast Duma. Law #76-z of December 1, 2004 On Granting the Status of the Municipal District to the Municipal Formation of Rudnyansky District of Smolensk Oblast, on Establishing the Borders of the Municipal Formations Whose Territories It Comprises, and on Granting Them Appropriate Status, as amended by the Law #111-z of November 23, 2011 On Amending the Oblast Law "On Granting the Status of the Municipal District to the Municipal Formation of Rudnyansky District of Smolensk Oblast, on Establishing the Borders of the Municipal Formations Whose Territories It Comprises, and on Granting Them Appropriate Status". Effective as of the official publication date.).