Sergei Torop, 64, lost his job as a traffic officer and founded the Church of the Last Testament in 1991 after experiencing a ...

A self-styled mystic Vissarion and two aides were sentenced to prison for using psychological pressure to extract money and ...

MOSCOW: Sergey Torop, a Russian religious cult leader who claimed to be the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, was recently ...

Sergei Torop, a Russian sect leader claiming to be Jesus reincarnated, received a 12-year prison sentence for harming followers' health and finances. Known as 'Vissarion,' he founded a religious sect ...

This image from August 18, 2009 shows Russian sect leader Sergei Torop known as "Vissarion", in the remote village of Petropavlovka, Krasnoyarsk region.

Vissarion and his followers believe the end of the world is coming and their Siberian community is the ark of salvation. Such sects have proliferated in Russia’s wilderness.

Vissarion's followers are strict vegetarians and they don't smoke or drink. The houses and churches are built from wood by hand and most of the energy comes from windmills and solar panels.

A Russian sect leader who claimed he was Jesus Christ reincarnated was sentenced to 12 years in a prison camp on Monday after ...

Vissarion, who has proclaimed himself a new Christ, leads a mass prayer in the village of Petropavlovka, about 580 km (360 miles) southeast of the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk August 17, 2007.