The Kuta River is a Siberian river north of Lake Baikal in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, that flows into the Lena River at Ust-Kut. With its right tributary, the Kupa River, it forms a ‘T’ shape with the flat head pointing west and the point at Ust-Kut.
The river is 408 km long and its basin is about 12,500 square kilometers[1]. Its source is about 650 meters above sea level and its mouth, 284 meters. It flows first west and then south through taiga and swampland. At its juncture with the Kupa, it turns east and flows through a relatively narrow and deep valley to Ust-Kut. It is not navigable and is frozen from November to the middle of May. The upper course is practically uninhabited, but is used for forestry. The lower course has a few villages. The Baikal-Amur Mainline from Bratsk eastward runs along its north side for about 60 km. The next river to the west is the Ilim River. In Cossack times a portage from the Ilim to the Kuta connected the Yenisei and Lena basins. Immediately to the north are the headwaters of both the Lower Tunguska and the Podkamennaya Tunguska.
The Kupa River is a right tributary that flows directly north and joins the Kuta where it turns east.