Last doomsday cult members abandon cave in Russia

David Nowak, Associated Press Writer

MOSCOW MILLS — The nine remaining members of a Russian doomsday cult holed up underground for months awaiting the end of the world abandoned it Friday after authorities removed two rotting corpses from their cave.

The nine were the last of a group of 35 men, women and children that had dug into a hillside near the Volga region town of Penza in November and threatened to blow themselves up with gas canisters if authorities tried to remove them.

The elaborate structure — complete with sleeping rooms, a makeshift kitchen and religious altars — suffered a series of partial cave-ins earlier this year caused by melting snows. The cave-ins prompted most of the group, including self-declared prophet Pyotr Kuznetsov, to leave.

The last nine inhabitants emerged Friday after the bodies of two women who died in the cave were removed, a local police officer said. He did not give his name because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The officer did not say why the group left, but Russian news agencies cited authorities as saying they left after being warned they could be poisoned by fumes from the rotting corpses.

"We could smell the stench through ventilation holes," a local official involved in the negotiations, Vladimir Provotorov, was quoted by RIA-Novosti as saying. "As we pulled out the dead bodies, we suggested the others leave. They agreed."

Cult members who left the cave earlier told local media that the women had died from cancer and exhaustion.

The police officer said the bodies would be examined at a local morgue.

Kuznetsov has been charged with setting up a religious organization associated with violence. Last month, he was hospitalized after authorities said he tried to kill himself.

An engineer from a devout family, Kuznetsov — who goes by the title Father Pyotr — declared himself a prophet several years ago. He left his family and established the True Russian Orthodox Church and recruited followers in Russia and Belarus.

He reportedly told followers that in the afterlife, they would be judging whether others deserved heaven or hell. Followers were not allowed to watch television, listen to the radio or handle money, Russian media reported.