Country file · Europe

Cryptids of Belarus

What cryptids are in Belarus? The best-known is Rusalka.

In Belarus the rusalka is linked more to forests and fields than to water. Folk belief held that during Rusalka week in early June, the spirits of drowned young women swung from the branches of birches and willows and swimming was forbidden; the week ended with a ritual burial of the rusalki, a custom that survived until the 1930s.

  • 1 cryptid

Cryptids reported in Belarus

Spectral · Pre-modern folklore

Rusalka

Rivers, fields and forests of Belarus Rusalka, the East Slavic spirit of drowned young women, feared in “Rusalka week” in early June and the heroine of operas by Dargomyzhsky and Dvořák. Folklore

The legends of Belarus

The figure is one of the best-known of the East Slavic spirits, shared with Ukraine and Russia.

Hotspots

  • Belarusian forests and fields

    Landscapes tied to the local rusalka tradition.

Nearby

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