And at Second Coming of Christ It has already arrived – as the spiritual guru affirms Vissarion-, his time among humans would have been quite disappointing. This is seen in the outcome of a man who, claiming to have mystical powerscreated a religious group with thousands of followers.
It’s about Russian Sergei Torop (64), better known as Vissarionthe name he chose after his “revelation.” Leaning on the christian beliefsforged in a place of Siberia a community with strong beliefs, including proximity to “end of the world” and the existence of aliens.
But this phenomenon, as crazy as it may seem, was massive and long-lasting. It brought together 4,000 people who decided to go live in the remote settlements from the Krasnoyarsk region, in Siberia. These had as their center of worship the residence of their leader on the top of a mountain, called “City of the Sun”.
Adding the adepts who lived in the middle of the forest, and those who were in the rest of the world, there were 10,000with a strong audience in Germany interested in esotericism.
Its beginnings date back to 1991when Torop founded the Last Testament Church. At that time, both his personal life and the political context of the country were in crisis: the Soviet Union disintegratedgenerating an ideological vacuum in society. Taking advantage, consciously or unconsciously, of this situation, she claimed to be the reincarnation of Jesus.
In the community, boys and girls were educated separately. Photo: ReutersHis leadership at the head of the sect lasted no less than 30 yearsuntil in September 2020 he was arrested along with his two main collaborators. However, only in June of this year They were sentenced to 12 years in prison for psychological violence and appropriation of his followers’ money.
The story of the “Messiah” of Siberia
Born in 1961 in Krasnodar, a city in southwestern RussiaTorop grew up largely with his atheist mother, and until the age of six with his grandmother, influenced by Orthodox Church.
Her mother had a daughter with another couple and the family changed their place of residence several times, until They arrived in Minusinskcity located in the same region where the mystical future would establish his community.
After graduating from high school, he joined the ranks of the Red Army. They are discipline led him to reach the degree of sergeant after having served in Mongolia. After his military activity ended, he went through various professions, from mechanic and electrician to physical education teacher and painter.
But the last job he would ever know as a «mere» mortal was that of traffic agent in the same city of his adolescence. Even though he would have been a tidy worker, was firedan episode that led to his spiritual discovery two years later.
He stopped recognizing his mother to give that place to the Virgin Mary. Photo: Alexander Nemenov/AFPTo be “the living word of God the Father” –as he proclaimed himself in an interview with The Guardian in 2002 -, was consistent with his aspirations. «If I don’t become famous all over the world, I won’t be able to live on Earth.»he himself wrote in one of his letters from his youth, according to Maria Karpinskaya, a former comrade of his.
The “Last Testament” and the alchemy of beliefs that formed the new Church
He said that Jesus observed it from a near-Earth orbit; who in a past life was a prophet of Judea in the 6th century BC; among other statements that he spread on his many preaching trips (funded by their followers) to cities in Russia, former republics of the USSR, European countries and Israel.
The focus of his teachings was The Last Testamentcompiled of 18 volumes that he wrote inspired by various spiritual sourcesfrom the Abrahamic religions to Hinduism and Buddhism. He spread the idea of the apocalypse and within the community he was meat consumption prohibitedamong other foods.
Al ecological lifestylevegan and teetotal, added not smoking and not saying bad words. For its part, the belief in extraterrestrials was nourished by Torov’s participation in a club called “UFO”.
But he life change upon entering this group it was total. The years were counted from the year of Vissarion’s birth, while the date of Christmas was modified on the day of his birth.
At the same time, they accepted the polygamy. Torov himself, who had seven children, divorced his first wife and married a 19 year old young man of the community, which she had known since she was 7.
The community used solar energy and specialized in cutting down trees. Photo: ReutersThe way of life in those lands could be recorded by the press, which did not enter without complying certain conditions. In a documentary – there were at least five made – the American editor Rocco Castoro revealed that visitors They took away their passports during your stay. These came, among other countries, from Sweden, Slovenia, Germany and Poland to see the leader religious.
“This is a place where my dreams come true. “I dreamed of living on a hill near a beautiful lake and there passing on my wisdom to the next generation.”Andréi Anatolevich, a teacher for children in the community, is heard saying to the journalist.
Detention for physical and moral abuse
They are messianic leadership term when he was arrested in September 2020 by agents of the Investigative Committee and the Federal Security Service (FSB). In the same joint operation of the special services and the Ministry of the Interior, their collaborators were also detained. Vadim Redkine y Vladimir Vedernikov.
The condemn did not arrive until June of this 2025. This was based on the maneuvers of psychological pressure to extract money from his followers, and in the serious damage to mental and physical health caused to some of them.
This was established by the prosecutor’s investigation, which, they claim, more than one twenty people were affected by the sect’s activities. A controversial ending for those who believed in good fewhat are you doing powerful and at the same time weak to whoever owns it.
