Sergei Torop, the self-proclaimed reincarnation of Jesus Christ known as “Vissarion,” has been sentenced to 12 years in a Russian prison camp for harming followers of his Siberian cult. The Church of the Last Testament, established in 1991 in Siberia’s Krasnoyarsk region, attracted thousands with promises of spiritual enlightenment and a pure lifestyle devoid of modern vices. What kind of evidence of psychological manipulation did the Russian authorities uncover during a helicopter raid?
Siberian Cult Leader Sentenced to Prison
Sergei Torop, who claimed to be Jesus Christ reincarnated, has been sentenced to 12 years in a Russian prison camp after being convicted of harming followers in his remote Siberian cult. The 63-year-old former traffic officer, known to his followers as “Vissarion,” established the Church of the Last Testament in 1991 following the collapse of the Soviet Union, eventually attracting thousands of devotees to his compound in Siberia’s Krasnoyarsk region.
Russian authorities conducted a dramatic helicopter raid in 2020, when the FSB security service arrested Torop along with his two main aides. The investigation revealed that cult leaders had inflicted both psychological and physical harm on followers through sophisticated pressure tactics, resulting in moral harm to 16 people and physical injuries to six others.
Sergei Torop, a former traffic officer who calls himself “Vissarion,” founded the Church of the Last Testament in 1991 after what he described as a divine revelation.https://t.co/SiDBXMpe41
— The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) June 30, 2025
Cult Operations and Harsh Sentencing
Vladimir Vedernikov, one of Torop’s key lieutenants, received an identical 12-year sentence, while Vadim Redkin, another top aide, was sentenced to 11 years in a maximum-security prison camp. The court found that Vedernikov faced additional charges of fraud, highlighting the financial exploitation that often accompanies psychological manipulation in cult environments.
The Church of the Last Testament promoted an austere lifestyle that prohibited meat, alcohol, smoking, swearing, and even money, creating a closed community dependent on its leadership. Followers lived in wooden huts in the remote Siberian wilderness, adhering to strict rules and ritualistic practices that gradually isolated them from mainstream society and rational decision-making.
‘Siberian Jesus’ sentenced to Russian prison after harming followers in bizarre cult https://t.co/t89FdQeLIo pic.twitter.com/DFTa3oaT5q
— New York Post (@nypost) July 2, 2025
Pattern of Exploitation and Legal Consequences
Investigators documented a systematic pattern of abuse, including moderate damage to one follower’s health that contributed to the severity of the sentences. The case represents a rare example of successful prosecution against a cult leader in Russia, where authorities have traditionally been hesitant to intervene in religious communities.
The sentencing sends a clear message about the limits of religious freedom when practices cross into harmful territory. Legal experts note that cults typically operate by gradually escalating control over members, beginning with seemingly benign spiritual practices before introducing increasingly harmful demands that exploit the psychological dependency they’ve carefully cultivated.