- Self-styled prophet and cult leader Sergey Torop, also known as Vissarion, has been jailed for harming followers’ health and finances
Moscow, July 1, 2025 (Agencies): A Russian court has sentenced Sergey Torop, a former traffic police officer who proclaimed himself the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, to 12 years in a maximum-security prison for causing psychological and physical harm to his followers and defrauding them financially.
Known to his followers as Vissarion, Torop founded the Church of the Last Testament in 1991 in Siberia’s Krasnoyarsk region. The movement attracted thousands with its rigid lifestyle rules—including bans on meat, alcohol, swearing, and money—and drew global attention for its isolationist practices in remote settlements.
The Novosibirsk court also sentenced Torop’s close aides, Vladimir Vedernikov and Vadim Redkin, to 12 and 11 years, respectively. All three men denied wrongdoing during the trial but were jointly ordered to pay 40 million rubles (approx. USD 511,500) in moral damages.
The convictions stem from actions spanning nearly three decades, between 1991 and 2020. Prosecutors presented evidence that 16 followers experienced psychological abuse, six sustained serious injuries, and one suffered long-term health deterioration linked to the cult’s practices.
Legal scrutiny intensified in 2020, beginning with investigations into alleged corruption at the Istoki School—an institution attended by children of Vissarion’s followers. Later that year, a criminal case was launched after the group obstructed journalists attempting to report from within the community. In September 2020, the Federal Security Service (FSB) raided Vissarion’s compound, uncovering large quantities of cash, weapons, jewelry, and adult materials.
Once officially registered as a religious organization in 1995, the Church of the Last Testament has since been dissolved. The sect gained international attention through a 2012 Vice News documentary titled Siberian Cult Leader Thinks He’s Jesus.