The headwaters of the river rise in the Sayan Mountains and flow from there in a northerly direction through Kansk and then in a westerly direction through Zelenogorsk, entering Yenisei at Ust-Kan (43 miles (70 km) north-east of Krasnoyarsk).
Czechoslovaks began to occupy the cities on their route: Chelyabinsk, Petropavlovsk, Kurgan, Novonikolaevsk, Mariinsk, Nizhneudinsk and Kansk.