Sergei Torop, also known to his followers as Vissarion Christ the Teacher, is a leader at a compound for the Church of the Last Testament in a southern district of Siberia’s Krasnoyarsk region.
Russia’s Investigative Committee said that the cult leader and two of his subordinates, including former rock musician Vadim Redkin, were arrested after authorities stormed the commune with vans and helicopters.
Torop used to work as a traffic officer but came to fame as Vissarion after the fall of the Soviet Union when he established his community which is similar to a cult. He now spends his time claiming to be Jesus and ‘teaching’ his ‘thousand’ followers. He has written a 10-volume ‘sequel to the Bible’ and lives in a comfortable cabin while his followers live in wooden huts nearby.
The Investigative Committee claimed the cult’s leaders ‘used its members’ money and psychological violence’ in order to ‘generate income from religious activities’.
“As a result of prolonged exposure, some of the followers of the religious organization suffered serious harm to their health,” the statement reads.
According to Tayga.info website, Alexander Staroverov, a local resident who witnessed the early-morning raid said the operation involved four helicopters, dozens of buses, an ambulance, and men in camouflage armed with combat weapons.
The raid was done by investigators from the Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, as well as employees of the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.
Torop’s religious organization is officially registered with the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, and half of its followers live in Krasnoyarsk Territory. To follow the religion, followers must not smoke, drink, or exchange money, and they must accept a simple life in a wooden hut.
In 2017, Torop said in a BBC interview that he had been accused of ‘brainwashing and embezzling’ his followers. He said he felt ‘sad’ but that the critics were ‘unavoidable.’
“I’ll put down the basis that will change all humanity,” Torop said.
Investigators plan to charge Torop and his subordinates with creating a religious association that uses violence. The investigation into their crimes is still ongoing.