The morphology, age, and genesis of the river valleys within the area of Quaternary ice sheets is still a matter of debate despite their long study history. In the upper reaches, the Volga River flows across the Moscow (Late Saalian, MIS 6) glacial area and, like other rivers in the glacial areas, was deeply influenced by the glacier. Two bedrock steps within the valley, its slopes, and adjacent uplands are covered with a uniform mantle of bipartite sediments left by the Moscow glacier. This indicates that the ancient valley was buried by a glacier and no flood terraces formed. The paper provides the first systematic study of soils in bipartite sediments across the Upper Volga River valley, including depositional environments, pedostratigraphy, and a more reliable chronological framework by luminescence dating and altitude references. Field investigation is supported by micromorphology, grain size distribution, and chemical properties. Soil horizons formed in the glacial till exhibit features similar to those in bipartite soils on the uplands. These include those acquired prior to deposition and those related to pedogenesis and frost impact from the Last Interglacial to the present. In contrast, the cover layer of soils within the river valley differs from the upland soils, being reworked by aeolian processes in the Late Glacial environment (17.5–12.4 ka). Its thickness varies with topographic position, reflecting the intensity of aeolian sedimentation. Argic horizons of soils buried by a thick layer of silty sand in the Late Glacial are similar to those of unburied soils, providing the first direct indication that these properties were largely formed during the Last Interglacial. The mantle distribution of soils in bipartite sediments confirms that the topography of the study area represents a relic glacial relief of Moscow (Late Saalian, MIS 6) time. © 2024 Elsevier B.V.