THEY THINK DOOMSDAY'S COMING... SO THEY LIVE IN CAVES
April 07, 2008
THEY left their homes and most of their belongings to spend a Russian winter in a bunker beneath a windswept, snow-covered field.
Hideout: A sleeping quarter in an underground hideout where members of the cult have been living, about 640km southeast of Moscow.
They had holed themselves up for five months and warned they would not come out until May, when they predicted the world would end.
But now, most of the followers of a Russian doomsday cult - True Russian Orthodox Church - have abandoned the man-made bunker.
And its leader, Pyotr Kuznetsov, 43, was rushed to hospital last Wednesday with serious head wounds.
There was no immediate explanation for his injuries, but a spokesman for the regional governor told Reuters that the main theory being studied by investigators is an attempted suicide.
Over the past six days, 24 members of the cult, who had hidden in the bunker in the rural region of Penza - about 750km southeast of Moscow - have abandoned their hideout.
Melting snow and rain had weakened the mud structure, causing walls to collapse.
There are still 11 more members in the bunker but they are refusing to talk to officials trying to coax them out, said the spokesman.
Cult members have threatened to blow themselves up with 100 gallons (378 litres) of petrol stockpiled in canisters if the authorities storm their hideaway, reported The Times.
Last week, they were also reported to have shot at police to drive them away.
Said the spokesman: 'They have taken a vow of silence.
'They are all adults and have been warned about the threat to their lives from the collapsing walls.'
Added Alexander Yelatontsev, an official from the Penza region: 'As much as their beliefs have been formed over a long period of time, persuading them to come out is not going to happen quickly.'
Despite being the leader, Kuznetsov declined to join his followers inside the bunker, stating that God had other work for him to do. He has been undergoing court-ordered psychiatric treatment.
He and the town officials have been trying to persuade the rest of the group to come out, by talking to them through ventilation pipes.
Earlier this week, Russian authorities even brought in a priest specialising in apocalyptic literature.
Russian television showed footage of some of the women who agreed to leave, emerging from the cave.
Some squinted and shielded their eyes from the sun, but otherwise they appeared healthy and well-groomed.
Local residents said the bunker was a pre-revolutionary convent with a well, a kitchen and areas for sleeping and praying.
The 35 cult members decided to hole up in the bunker in a windswept ravine near the Volga river after their leader told them that the Apocalypse foretold in the Book of Revelation would happen in May.
Kuznetsov, a self-declared prophet, forbids his followers from watching television, listening to the radio or handling money.
He also urged cult members to sell their material belongings, including their apartments, and live a simple, rural life.
Mr Yelatontsev said members told him that credit cards and food packaging bar codes were satanic.
He said the people underground have been in contact with him regularly, and would accept food only if it had not been processed with modern factory equipment.
ASK FOR A COW
'Right now, they are asking for a cow so that they can have fresh, boiled milk that is not processed,' he said.
Kutnetsov set up the cult several years ago after splitting from the mainstream Russian Orthodox Church.
He recruited his followers by writing books and touring monasteries in Russia and Belarus.
He has told the group that when they die, they will be allowed to judge whether others should go to heaven or hell.
BURN PASSPORTS
Kutnetsov ordered his followers to burn their passports and go into the cave last November.
He was arrested and charged with setting up a religious organisation associated with violence. After a mental health evaluation however, psychiatrists said that he was unfit to stand trial.
Georgy Ryabov, a Russian Orthodox Church spokesman, told the Times he believes that the emergence of Kuznetsov's cult was a consequence of 'the absence of a system of spiritual and moral education' in Russia.
Post-communist Russia initially gave religious creeds free rein, sparking an influx of foreign evangelists and missionaries throughout the 1990s, reported the BBC.
Religious groups such as the Jehovah's Witnesses were joined by groups such as Scientologists, Moonies and Krishna devotees.
This influx led to outcries in some quarters that Russia's moral fibre and even its national security were at risk from such groups.
But the True Russian Orthodox Church has attracted sympathy from some experts.
Dr Marat Shterin, a sociologist of religion at King's College, London, told the BBC that while there are a number of such groups in Russia, it is dangerous to see them all as potential 'doomsday cults'.
He added that many are integrated in society and more concerned with 'spiritual purification and trying to conquer evil by improving the world around them'.
Experts also argue that while 'end of time' beliefs are widespread around the world, it is rare that such groups engage in violence.
Source:
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/st...61343,00.html? 
THEY THINK DOOMSDAY'S COMING... SO THEY LIVE IN CAVES 
