TOROP, Sergey (Vissarion) (toe-ROPE)

Sergey Anatolyevitch Torop, known by his religious name Vissarion, is a Russian religious leader who claimed to be the reincarnation of Jesus Christ and founded the Church of the Last Testament, establishing an isolated religious community in the Siberian wilderness. Born in Krasnodar, Soviet Union in 1961, Torop worked as a traffic police officer and later as a factory worker before experiencing what he described as a spiritual awakening in 1989.

In 1991, Torop began preaching that he was the returned Christ and established the Church of the Last Testament, combining elements of Christianity, Buddhism, and environmental philosophy. His teachings emphasized vegetarianism, rejection of money and materialism, gender equality, and harmony with nature. Followers, known as Vissarionites, were instructed to prepare for an apocalyptic end times and the establishment of God's kingdom on Earth.

The movement established the "City of the Sun" community in the remote Krasnoyarsk region of Siberia, attracting thousands of followers from across the former Soviet Union and abroad. The community operated as a largely self-sufficient society with its own economy, schools, and governance structure based on Vissarion's teachings. Members lived in wooden houses, practiced organic farming, and followed strict dietary and behavioral codes.

In September 2020, Russian authorities arrested Vissarion and several associates on charges of organizing an illegal religious organization and causing psychological harm to followers. Prosecutors alleged that the group used psychological manipulation and coercion to control members and extract money and property. In June 2025, a Siberian court sentenced Vissarion to 11 years in prison for leading a harmful religious cult, effectively ending the organized community's operations under his direct leadership.