A doomsday cult leader whose followers are barricaded inside a cave in southern Russia will be taken to the site in an attempt to secure the release of several children, according to a government official.The 29 cult members -- including four children as young as 18 months -- retreated last month to the hideout in the Penza region, about 640 kilometers (400 miles) southeast of Moscow, threatening to blow themselves up if the authorities tried to intervene.
Self-declared prophet Pyotr Kuznetsov, who was not with his followers, is now in a psychiatric hospital but will be taken to the site Wednesday to seek the release of the children, Yevgeny Guseynov, a regional government official, told The Associated Press.
Russian Orthodox monks and priests have already tried to contact the cult members who are reported to be mostly women, but members refused to speak to them, AP reported.
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