Regularities and mechanisms of laser-induced damage as a major limitin
g factor for maximum intensity of laser radiation in transparent solid
s are considered. An analysis of up-to-date status of laser damage pro
blems is given and recent new results of investigations in this field
regarding, in particular, a pulse-width dependence of a damage thresho
ld in a region of ultrashort laser pulses are presented. Unsolved topi
cal problems are discussed.