He founded the Church of the Last Testament (Церковь Последнего Завета Tserkov Poslednego Zaveta), also known as the Community of Unified Faith, with its head church located in the Siberian Taiga in the Minusinsk Basin east of Abakan, in the small settlement called Abode of Dawn (official name) or The Sun City (unofficial name) near Petropavlovka.

[3] Since 1991, on the basis of Vissarion's meetings, teachings and speeches, a multi-volume text called The Last Testament has been written, outlining a set of principles focused on self-improvement, self-governance and community.

At 18, he began compulsory service by enlisting in the Red Army, becoming a sergeant working on building sites in Mongolia, followed by three years as a factory metal worker in Minusinsk, Siberia.

[7][9] His religious beliefs combine elements of the Russian Orthodox Church with Buddhism, apocalypticism, collectivism, and ecological values.

[14] He replaced Christmas with a feast day on his birthday (14 January) and claimed to possess an ability to heal cancer and AIDS with a touch from his hand.

[7] Tiberkul, the settlement in the Taiga, was established in 1994 on a territory of 2.5 square kilometres (620 acres), and expanded to several nearby villages, such as those of Petropavlovka and Cheremshanka, at ca.

On 22 September 2020, Russian authorities arrested Vissarion on charges of running an illegal religious organization, possible physical harm to others, and extortion.

He was apprehended by the FSB and Russian police, and taken to Novosibirsk central district court, along with two aides, Vadim Redkin and Vladimir Vedernikov.