MOSCOW Followers of a doomsday cult who have barricaded themselves into a cave near the Volga river have threatened to blow themselves up if authorities intervene.

The 29 members of the cult, including four children, have taken food supplies and fuel underground near Nikolskoye, a village in Penza region that is about 650km (400 miles) southeast of Moscow, because they believe that the world will end in the spring, Yevgeny Guseynov, a regional spokesman, said.

Pyotr Kuznetsov, 43, the leader of the cult who has not joined his followers, many of whom are women, has undergone a psychiatric evaluation and been charged with setting up a religious organisation that is associated with violence. Mr Kuznetsov established the True Russian Orthodox Church after leaving the official Church.

Russian Orthodox monks have climbed down the snow-covered gully to try to make contact with the cult, but members have refused to speak to them. They have exchanged letters with their leader and are in contact with doctors who have offered them medical supplies. (AP)

Times Recommends

• Gun-toting beauty queen aiming to be the Veep
• New hurricane set for mourning New Orleans
• Feuds, blondes and demons in Wagner's family