Authorities in Ukraine are jubilant about the weekend flop of an extremist cult's "end of the world" spectacle, saying police had caused the movement's downfall by arresting its leaders.
The Great White Brotherhood had predicted that its "living god," 33-year-old Marina Tsvygun, would be resurrected Sunday outside the 11th century St. Sofia Cathedral, along with 150,000 apostles and angels who would fly through the air toward heaven.Tsvygun spent the day in jail, four days after being picked up by police opposite the cathedral along with her second husband, Yuri Krivonogov, the cult's self-styled "prophet."
About 300 people turned out - mothers seeking children taken over by the cult, curious onlookers and journalists drawn by suggestions devotees would commit mass suicide. Three people were detained by police, accused of promoting the cult's aims.
"The sun is shining in Ukraine. We are all alive and well, the end of the world did not take place," Deputy Interior Minister Valentyn Nedrehaylo told Reuters.
"Our security forces dealt with this in fine fashion. The turning point was the arrest of Tsvygun and Krivonogov. That prevented waves of followers from descending on Kiev."
The cult, which has attracted converts among youths disoriented by inflation, mass poverty and unemployment, has upstaged public activity in Ukraine for weeks.
Police operations, including a round-the-clock watch on St. Sofia square, have been less than entirely successful.
Sixty devotees of the cult last week sneaked past the guard into the cathedral, the most revered in the Slav Orthodox world, and brawled with police. Priceless icons were damaged.
Security forces have tried to turn the fuss to their advantage, as have the foreign ministry and border guards, who accused Russia of allowing cult members to pour over the border.
Ukraine's mainstream religious faiths, including the badly divided Orthodox church, have tried to persuade authorities to ban dubious cults. They say the organizations flourish because of a spiritual vacuum in post-Soviet society.
More than half the 800 cult adherents rounded up in the past month remain in detention. Some 300 went on a hunger strike to press for their release in time for the promised cataclysm.
"I appeal to all mothers throughout the (former Soviet Union) to come and collect their children and ask Western countries to send expert psychologists to help people subjected to brainwashing," Nedrehaylo said.
Distraught women stood on the edge of the square, deemed by the cult the "closest point to the cosmos," clutching pictures of children they said had left home to join the group.
Nedrehaylo said Tsvygun, charged with hooliganism, and Krivonogov, accused of extortion, were in separate prisons.