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{{Short description|Eschatological religious movement in Ukraine}}

'''"The Great White Brotherhood YUSMALOS"''' (commonly known in the media as the "'''White Brotherhood'''") is an eschatological religious movement that emerged in the early 1990s in [[Ukraine]]. Its teachings combine elements of [[Christianity]] with other religions, especially [[Dharmic]] traditions, and [[theosophy]]. The Brotherhood's activities peaked on November 10, 1993, when members attempted to take over [[Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv|St. Sophia's Cathedral]] in [[Kyiv, Ukraine]] with plans for [[mass suicide]]. After the arrest of its founders, the Brotherhood continued to exist as separate groups.<ref>{{Cite web |last=admin |date=2024-01-30 |title=White Brotherhood (Ukraine) - Cults and Sects |url=https://newreligiousmovements.org/v-z/white-brotherhood-ukraine/ |access-date=2024-09-23 |website=New Religious Movements |language=en-US}}</ref>

== History ==
Founded in 1990–1991 in Kyiv by [[Yuri Krivonogov]], a specialist in psychological influence, [[cybernetics engineer]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Морі |first=Євгеній |date=10 November 2021 |title=Кінець світу перенесено на невизначений термін. Історія секти "Біле братство" в Україні |url=https://suspilne.media/78476-kinec-svitu-pereneseno-na-neviznacenij-termin-istoria-sekti-bile-bratstvo-v-ukraini/ |website=suspilne.media}}</ref> and candidate of technical sciences, and journalist [[Marina Tsvigun]].

Yuri Krivonogov initiated the movement in 1988, creating the "Institute of Man" and giving lectures on meditation and spiritual practices.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=До кінця світу з "живим богом" |url=https://localhistory.org.ua/texts/statti/do-kintsia-svitu-z-zhivim-bogom/ |access-date=2024-09-20 |website=localhistory.org.ua |language=uk}}</ref> He was previously involved in the [[International Society for Krishna Consciousness]] but was expelled for claiming to be Krishna’s avatar. In 1990, he met Marina Tsvigun, who later became the group's figurehead, proclaimed as the "Living God Maria Devi Christos," while Krivonogov took the name Yoann Swami.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Велике Біле Братство ЮСМАЛОС |url=https://vue.gov.ua/%D0%92%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B5_%D0%91%D1%96%D0%BB%D0%B5_%D0%91%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%82%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B2%D0%BE_%D0%AE%D0%A1%D0%9C%D0%90%D0%9B%D0%9E%D0%A1 |access-date=2024-09-21 |website=ВУЕ |language=uk}}</ref>

In 1991, "The Great White Brotherhood YUSMALOS" was officially registered. Its members were called "Yusmalians".<ref>{{Cite web |title=1993 року в Києві відбулася спроба захоплення приміщення Софійського собору сектантами Білого братства |url=https://old.nmiu.org/tsoho-dnia/2140-1993-roku-v-kyievi-vidbulasia-sproba-zakhoplennia-prymishchennia-sofiiskoho-soboru-sektantamy-biloho-bratstva |access-date=2024-09-21 |website=old.nmiu.org}}</ref> It functioned as a religious community with a strict hierarchy and discipline,<ref name=":3"/> consisting mainly of young people under twenty, including minors. According to Krivonogov's teachings, the "Great White Brotherhood YUSMALOS" had the mission to spread mystical knowledge to save people from the [[millineranism|impending world destruction]], predicted to occur on November 24, 1993.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dvorkin |first=A. L. |title=Сектоведение. Тоталитарные секты. Опыт систематического исследования |year=2006 |isbn=5-88213-050-6 |edition=3rd ed., revised and enlarged |location=N. Novgorod |pages=Chapter 18 "White Brotherhood" |language=russian |trans-title=Sectology. Totalitarian sects. Experience of systematic research}}</ref> Active missionary work took place in various regions of Ukraine, marked by members wearing white clothes. Communities were officially registered in Kyiv and [[Cherkasy]], and the movement later spread to Russia, Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Bulgaria, Poland, and Czechoslovakia.<ref name=":3"/>

=== Rapture of the Cathedral of St. Sophia of Kyiv ===
The culmination of the Brotherhood's activities was the attempt by the Yusmalians on November 10, 1993 to seize the Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv and commit [[mass suicide]] inside it by [[self-immolation]].<ref name=":3" />

At the beginning of 1993<ref name=":0" /> (according to other sources, in the spring of 1992<ref name=":1" />), Kryvonogov, who declared himself a "prophet of the Mother of the World", spread information about the date of the [[Last Judgment]] on November 24, 1993. He called on all Yusmalians to gather in Kyiv for mass suicide<ref name=":0" /> and [[resurrection]] in three days.<ref name=":1" />

Later, the date of the promotion was moved to November 10, in anticipation of the end of the world on November 11. A campaign against the "White Brotherhood" was launched in the Ukrainian media, some Kyiv schools shortened classes that day for the safety of students. The [[Russian Orthodox Church]] and the [[Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate|Ukrainian Orthodox Church]] excommunicated Maryna Tsvihun from their churches, and the Brotherhood was declared [[anathema]].<ref name=":0" />

On November 10, Yusmalians entered the Sophia Cathedral, cut off the telephone connection and blocked the exits. Tsvihun and Krivonogov climbed the [[bishop's chair]] and expected self-immolation from the Brotherhood; they promised to commit suicide as a last resort. According to another version, one of the Yusmalians was supposed to shoot Zvigun and thus trigger the death of the world, but he got scared and did not shoot.<ref name=":0" />

Police authorities prevented the suicide, and twenty-five followers of the Brotherhood were arrested for organizing riots,<ref name=":0" /> more than six hundred of the most active members of the Brotherhood were detained; they went on hunger strike. A week later, in her appeal, Zvigun allowed them to stop their hunger strike.

=== Disintegration ===
In 1996, Marina Tsvigun, Yuri Krivonogov, and another leader, [[Viktor Kovalchuk]], were sentenced to four, seven, and six years of imprisonment, respectively, for organizing mass riots, seizing state and public buildings, and assaulting the health of citizens under the pretext of performing religious ceremonies. After their imprisonment, there was a split in the Brotherhood between followers of Mary Devi Christ and Joanna Swami. Even during the investigation, Tsvigun broke up with Kryvonohov, describing him as a traitor<ref name=":0" /> and claimed that it was he who called for self-immolation. The activities of the Brotherhood in Ukraine were banned,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Тоталітарні культи і держава: безсовісна «свобода совісті» по-українськи |url=https://m.day.kyiv.ua/article/cuspilstvo/totalitarni-kulty-i-derzhava-bezsovisna-svoboda-sovisti-po-ukrayinsky |access-date=2024-09-21 |website=m.day.kyiv.ua |language=uk}}</ref> and also condemned in Russia.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Новые религиозные организации России деструктивного и оккультного характера, "Белое Братство", Глава 3 - читать, скачать |url=https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/sekty/novye-religioznye-organizatsii-rossii-destruktivnogo-i-okkultnogo-haraktera/2_3 |access-date=2024-09-21 |website=azbyka.ru |language=ru}}</ref>

After his release from prison, Krivonogov recognized his actions related to the organization of the "Great White Brotherhood of Yusmalos" as wrong, broke off relations with the Yusmalians, and after his second marriage took the surname of his wife (Sylvestrov)<ref name=":3"/> and chose a secluded lifestyle.

Marina Tsvigun was released early in 1997. She married Vitaliy Kovalchuk and began efforts to revive the "Great White Brotherhood YUSMALOS." Attempts to officially register it in [[Ukraine]] were unsuccessful.<ref name=":3"/> The Brotherhood's groups went underground, maintaining secret communication and movement across the [[Commonwealth of Independent States|CIS]].<ref name=":4" />

In 2005-2006, Tsvihun moved the center of her activity to Moscow and changed her name to [[Viktoriya Preobrazhenska]]. She became the founder of a number of organizations of artistic and esoteric direction ("Unions of Holy Love", "Cosmic Polyarts of the Third Millennium", "Theatre of Mysteries").<ref name=":3" /> Criticized the [[Orange Revolution]] and the [[Revolution of Dignity]], calling them the consequences of foreign manipulation. She supported the former president of Ukraine [[Viktor Yanukovych]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-04-15 |title=Провідник "Білого братства" з'явилася в РФ і пише вірші про "київську хунту" |url=https://tsn.ua/svit/providnik-bilogo-bratstva-z-yavilasya-v-rf-i-pishe-virshi-pro-kiyivsku-huntu-421483.html |access-date=2024-09-21 |website=ТСН.ua |language=uk}}</ref> She promoted the refusal of passports and group isolation from the rest of society.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Кременовська |first=Ірина |date=2018-10-29 |title=«Чип на лбу»: в Україні діє небезпечне сектантське угруповання, кероване з РФ |url=https://vilneslovo.com/%D1%87%D0%B8%D0%BF-%D0%BD%D0%B0-%D0%BB%D0%B1%D1%83-%D0%B2-%D1%83%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%97%D0%BD%D1%96-%D0%B4%D1%96%D1%94-%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%B1%D0%B5%D0%B7%D0%BF%D0%B5%D1%87%D0%BD%D0%B5-%D1%81/ |access-date=2024-09-21 |website=ГОВОРИ! |language=uk}}</ref>

On July 19, 2013, by the decision of the [[Egoryev]] Court of the Moscow Region, the literature of the "White Brotherhood" was recognized as [[Extremism|extremist]] and is subject to inclusion in the [[Federal List of Extremist Materials]]. On the basis of an examination conducted by the Russian Institute of Cultural Studies, the court found that the literature of the "White Brotherhood" contains [[Chauvinism|chauvinistic]] statements and calls for religious [[enmity]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.interfax-religion.ru/new/print.php?act=news&id=52024 |access-date=2024-09-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130914153020/http://www.interfax-religion.ru/new/print.php?act=news&id=52024 |archive-date=2013-09-14 |title=Документ не найден - "Интерфакс" }}</ref>

== Later analysis ==
In 2021, the Ukrainian documentary film "With Feet on the Altar" was released about the "White Brotherhood". This is one of nine films in the "Our Thirty" series about turning events in the history of independent Ukraine in the 1990s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=На Суспільному показали документальний фільм про історію Білого братства - РІСУ |url=https://risu.ua/na-suspilnomu-pokazali-dokumentalnij-film-pro-istoriyu-bilogo-bratstva_n118903 |access-date=2024-09-21 |website=Релігійно-інформаційна служба України |language=uk}}</ref>

During an interview with journalist [[Dmitry Gordon|Gordon]], [[Viktor Shokin]], [[Prosecutor General of Ukraine]] (10 February 2015 – 3 April 2016) stated: <blockquote>"He (Krivonogikh) was simply the one who was being led, he was carrying out some mission. Not for the good of the white brothers and sisters, but for the good of those who ordered this mission from him."

To the journalist's clarifying question, "that is, intelligence agencies?" he replied, "I think so."<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=CQ8wPx5bujg2xBU3&v=KK-EKnvB4ic&feature=youtu.be |title=Экс-Генпрокурор Шокин. Расстрелянный Майдан, предательство Порошенко, отравление ртутью, Байден |date=2020-03-24 |last=В гостях у Гордона |access-date=2024-09-21 |via=YouTube}}</ref></blockquote>This confirms the theory that arose in 1990 and became popular in the 2010-2020s, about the creation of the "White Brotherhood" as an experiment by the government (sometimes specifically the [[KGB]] of the [[Soviet Union|USSR]])<ref>{{Cite web |title=«Белое братство» снова наступает |url=https://dv-gazeta.info/old/4/beloe-bratstvo-snova-nastupaet.html |access-date=2024-09-21 |website=dv-gazeta.info |language=uk}}</ref> to influence broad sections of the population. According to the theory, Tsvigun and Krivonogov were not its real leaders<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-11-11 |title=Секта "Біле братство" могла бути створена державою як експеримент над людською свідомістю |url=https://tsn.ua/ukrayina/sekta-bile-bratstvo-bula-stvorena-derzhavoyu-yak-eksperiment-nad-lyudskoyu-svidomistyu-319581.html |access-date=2024-09-21 |website=ТСН.ua |language=uk}}</ref>

== References ==

{{reflist}}

== See also ==
* [[People's Temple]]

[[Category:Religious organizations based in Ukraine]]
[[Category:1990s in Ukraine]]
[[Category:Christian new religious movements]]
[[Category:New religious movements established in the 1990s]]
[[Category:Apocalyptic groups]]

White Brotherhood (religious group) - Revision history

imported>PARAKANYAA: MOS:CULT