Asbest is a town in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Bolshoy Reft River on the eastern slopes of the Ural Mountains, 70 kilometers (43 mi) northeast of Yekaterinburg. Population: 68,893 (2010 census); 76,328 (2002 census); 84,470 (1989 Soviet census). It was previously known as Kudelka (Sliver).