In a recent post I looked at the brosno dragon a Russian lake monster that was claimed to
have been blown up by explosives , in my research I came across a multitude of lake cryptids
from Russia. Some you may have heard of, others that you may not.
From human-like water dwelling entities to the more familiar lake monster or river serpents.
Lets take a dive into these Russian waters and see what we find.
welcome to if...........................................................................................
We start out with a creature that has been said to have been seen lurking at the bottom
of a lake near the western village of Somin in the Ukraine. The animal was desribed as
cross between a snake and crocodile and would hide at the bottom of the lake.
The lake the creature calls home is around 56 meters in depth.
Like I mentioned in the video on the Bosnyo Dragon this lake has an underwater cave network
that may provide the animal with a route to avoid detection and a wider habitat with subterranean
caves connected to the ocean with a number of underwater karst caves stretching across
the lake bed. The mystery animal strikes locals with fear,this
because over the years the creature has been reported there have been numerous stories
of attacks on domestic animals, they fear a person could be next.
in line with this fear is a Legend which tells that some 30 years ago a local groom fell
prey to the monster. The story goes that the man had been partying
a little too hard in a drunken state he fell fast asleep in the grass near the shore of
the lake the beast calls home. The monster then is said to have crept out
from the murky waters and eaten the unlucky groom for lunch.
As is often the case the monster also provides a cautionary tale about the hazards of water,
it is said that there was a disobedient boy who thought it would be a good idea to take
a dip in the lake. unsurprisingly the boy was never seen from
again, in the villagers minds he made for another snack for the monster.
Similiar tales are told across Russiam, there are many lakes and inland bodies of water
that hide mystery cryptids; one crytpid that is more human-like and are known as the Little
water goblins hide at the bottom of Lake Vedlozero Lake Vedlozero looks like a typical Karelian
lake. It measures 15 km in length and has a width of 7km. The lake is of glacial origin
like many in the region of Karelia. A place that is well-known for its numerous lakes,
which are amazingly striking in color being pools of the clearest blue.
It was during the mid-1990s that reports of these creatures began to come out of the village
on the banks of the lake. One of these reports quoted the late P. F.
Yegorov, a resident of the area who claimed he had seen a large shining object fall into
the lake from the sky. However, nothing was found at the bottom of the lake by members
of several expeditions. Could this once again be a species of extraterrestrial
that is similiar to the little alien humanoids seen at Ketsburg?
Viktor Sapunov, a Russian cryptozoologist who participated in a search of the lake,
published a report based on the witness testimonies gathered from the villagers .
They detailed how the mysterious tiny human like entities had rounded heads and had somehow
became strongly associated with the fall of this unidentified “heavenly body” in the
lake. Another clue possible pointing to an alien origin for these little guys.
Talking about the investigation he said: "Our team arrived in the location last fall.
We asked around several old residents of the village. None of them saw any “water goblins”
in or near the lake. “I go fishing on a regular basis. I have
never seen any ‘water goblins’ in our lake. I have never heard about them. As for
the talk of seals, they drop by the lake now and then. One of the locals even caught a
seal several years ago. He carried a camera on that day so he took a picture of the animal.
There is nothing strange about seals coming down the lake. Lake Ladoga is not so far away
from here. They just travel to and fro through the tributaries,” said Vasily Efremov, head
of the village council." As an explanation these fishermen at Lake
Vedlozero may have started to spread the rumors about the “water goblins” after spotting
seals in the lake. Seals can easily be mistaken for human like beings when seen in water.
They have also been used as explanation for many other aquatic cryptids around the world.
Perhaps the territory has a population of seals or possibly another species of freshwater
pinniped which science is unaware of, animals of this type were once abundant throughout
Russia in the past. Another strange lake is located in Yakutia
and is called Lake Khainyr, located on the edge of the Polar Circle. The lake is small,
measuring only 500 by 600 meters, and is quite shallow, being around only 7 meters deep.
The lake is of a termokarst origin; this meaning it was created by a thawed patch in the permafrost.
In 1964, an interview by G. Rukosuyev was published in which the details of a Northeastern
Expedition carried out by Moscow State University was detailed. in this artcile there was an
account of the events recorded by a one N. Gladkikh, a migrant worker hired by the expedition.
he made the claim that he ran into a lake monster on a misty early morning.
The story started out with the worker about to draw some water from the lake when he saw
a strange aquatic animal lying on the shore. He described an animal that had a long gleaming
neck with a small head. Its body was large, covered with blackish-blue skin.
It had a large dorsal fin in the center of its back. The idea of a dorsal fin suggest
fish, but it could be possible that a seal like animal laying on its side may present
as a dorsal fin. Soon after the man witnessed the cryptid it
slid down the shore and back into the water. Sometime later he saw it again this time standing
out the water in the middle of the lake. The animal started swinging its long tail to whip
the water. The waves were rippling the surface of the lake, he claimed.
building on the stories of “eyewitness account,” Rukosuyev added a little more color to the
story. He said that the lake was void of fish and that birds would not land on the water’s
surface. He also referred to reports of “muffled
sounds and splashes of water” frequently heard by locals.
Sadly, Researchers who went in search of the beast found that this was all a fantasy and
after they had a heart-to-heart talk with Gladkikh, the so-called eyewitness. He admitted
that the story was a fantasy that for reasons he could not clearly explain he had dreamt
up and spread. The final strange monster is a Hairy beast
said to have been snorting at Russian fishermen. this story starts out with Professor N. Vereshchagin,
a zoologist and self-proclaimed “fighter against “the snowman buffs,” he had his
work published which included an article, in which he quoted one of the letters addressed
the Institute of Zoology. Prof. Vereshchagin ridiculed the person who
had penned the letter as they put forward the idea that either seals or hippopotamuses
were living in some of the lakes in the Irtysh basin.
others that work in the field of cryptozoology refrain from making a mockery of such reports.
instead they prefer to research the claims before casting judgement.
The late Maya Bykova made several trips to the area. She put down a number of eyewitness
accounts; most of them similar to what follows: “I was rowing my boat across the lake when
I heard that splash. The sound of it made me stop. I was wondering what kind of a fish
could have splashed like that. I lifted the oars and peered in that direction.
The next moment I saw something big emerge from the water, it looked like a haystack
rising to the surface. I looked on and saw that the creature was covered with fleecy
dark-brown skin resembling that of a seal. It made a hissing sound and dived back into
the water.” Other witness accounts recorded by Bykova
contain a similar description of the “monster:” creatures covered with hairy dark-brown skin
that have been seen surfacing, at which point they force air violently out of their lungs
through their noses and then plunge back under and go back into hiding.
The fact that these sightings have taken place in more than one location could give the tales
a little more credibility, also as was mentioned earlier, the fact that many of these lakes
are connected by means of tributaries. Also, the lakes are often remote being scattered
over a large and sparsely populated area. These factors would mean there is more than
enough space for a species to exist and thrive and remain largely unseen and unknown.
this then leaves us with the task of trying to identify what these cryptids could be.
The description of fur suggests that they are of the mammalian animal group, this making
them warm blooded and more suited to leaving in the Russian climate then say a reptile.
The idea of misidentified or possible new species of seal is compelling or it may be
another freshwater aquatic mammal like an otter. There have been many legends of giant
otters and we know that they can achieve large sizes. The Amazonian river otter is a ferocious
predator that can grow to over six feet in length.
It would not be that strange for freshwater seals to be living in Lake Ladoga and Lake
Baikal. There have been a number of more outlandish
idea on what the animals could be, with one theory saying that Mammoths have survived
by becoming an aquatic species. A similar theory put forward by N. Avdeyev,
a cryptozoologist from the city of Perm, features relic wooly rhinoceroses which somehow clinging
to survival in the cold waters.
We do not need to get so fantastical with an explanation Russia has a number of water
dwelling mammals and some semi aquatic species too. Bears are fond of water and will happily
take a dip especially if fish is on the menu. The fossil record could also come into play
as these creatures may be a long surviving species thought to have died out thousands
of years ago possibly a giant sea cow or such like.
The question won’t be answered until more research has been carried out or more evidence
found until then we can but speculate. what did you is behind the sightings of lake
and river monsters in Russia, have you heard of any other Russian water cryptids?
let me know in the comments below.