Pyotr Kuznetsov

{{Short description|Russian Orthodox cult leader (born 1964)}}

{{for|the Red Army junior sergeant|Pyotr Kuznetsov (junior sergeant)}}

Pyotr Kuznetsov ({{langx|ru|Пётр Кузнецов}}; born 1964) is the leader and founder of the Russian religious group, the True Russian Orthodox Church. Kuznetsov did not let his followers watch television, listen to the radio or handle money.[http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/11/16/doomsday.cult/index.html Doomsday cult threatens suicide], CNN, November 16, 2007 The group has been referred to as a "Doomsday cult".

Kuznetsov is a divorced architect from Belarus, who wandered all across Russia to spread his message of the impending apocalypse before settling in the village of Nikolskoye. He has been diagnosed as schizophrenic, and according to The Guardian, he sleeps in a coffin.[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/nov/15/russia.davidbatty Russian doomsday sect threatens mass suicide], The Guardian, November 15, 2007

On April 3, 2008, Kuznetsov attempted suicide. He and his followers had been hiding in a cave in Russia's Penza region in anticipation of Kuznetsov' prediction that the world would end. Officials speculated his suicide attempt may have been caused by realising his prediction had been wrong."{{cite news | url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3677129.ece | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080727000327/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3677129.ece | url-status=dead | archive-date=July 27, 2008 | title=Cult leader Pyotr Kuznetsov tries suicide after realising he was wrong about doomsday |publisher=The Times Online | date=April 3, 2008 | first= Tony| last= Halpin| location=London}}