Case file · Folklore / legend
The Penza recluses wait for the end
In October 2007, 35 followers of the self-styled prophet Pyotr Kuznetsov, including children, shut themselves in a cave dug near the village of Nikolskoye in Penza oblast to await the end of the world, predicted for May 2008.
2007 CE · 52.62, 43.82 · status: official
The account
They threatened to blow themselves up with gas if forced out. The group left gradually in spring 2008 after part of the cave collapsed; two women had died inside. Kuznetsov, who stayed outside, was declared mentally ill.