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Creature index / Lake and sea monsters

Brosno dragon

Also called Brosnya, Бросня

Russia's dragon of Lake Brosno, said to surface at dusk and once to have swallowed a warplane.

Lake Brosno lies in western Russia near the town of Andreapol. It is about 43 m deep at its deepest point and has a sunken church in its western part. Local legends say a dragon-like creature, Brosnya, lives in it, and some of the stories are said to date back to the 13th century.

In the 18th and 19th centuries it was rumoured to rise to the surface in the evening and sink again as soon as people came near. One wartime tale says it swallowed a German aeroplane during the Second World War.

Sceptics suggest a beaver or a very large pike behind the sightings.

What witnesses report

  • Something large surfacing at dusk
  • It dives as people approach
  • Dragon-like head or back

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Similar creatures

Other lake and sea monsters from around the world.

Loch Ness Monsteraka Nessie, NiseagScotland's long-necked lake monster, the world's most famous cryptid.Labynkyr Devilaka Labynkyrsky Chert, Labynkyr monsterA lake monster said to lurk in a remote, ice-bound lake near the coldest inhabited place on Earth.Rusalkaaka Rusalki, MavkaSlavic water maidens, often the spirits of drowned young women, who lure people into rivers and lakes.Bishop-fishaka Sea bishop, Bishop fishA 16th-century sea creature shaped like a bishop in his mitre, said to have begged Polish clergy to free it.Blue men of the Minchaka Storm kelpies, Na fir ghormaBlue-skinned sea men of the Hebrides who challenge sailors to finish a rhyme or have their ship sunk.Bukavacaka Bukavats, Noise-maker of SyrmiaA six-legged, horned lake demon of Serbian folklore that bellows at night and strangles prey.

Also from Russia

Different creatures from the same part of the world.

Almasaka Almasty, AlbastyA shy, human-sized wild man of the Caucasus and Central Asian steppes.Alyoshenka, the Kyshtym dwarfaka Kyshtym dwarf, АлёшенькаA tiny mummified body found in a Ural village in 1996, called an alien until DNA said otherwise.Chuchunaaka Chuchunya, ChuchunaaA tall, dark-haired wild man of Siberian folklore, said to wear animal skins.Domovoiaka Domovoy, DomovikThe Slavic house spirit, an old grey man behind the stove who guards the family and its animals.Menkaka Mengk, МэнкA formidable forest spirit of Khanty and Mansi tradition in western Siberia.Barghestaka Barguest, BargestA monstrous black dog of northern England, said to be an omen of death.