MOSCOW, January 28 - RAPSI. The court has extended the stay in a psychiatric hospital of the former leader of the so-called "Penza recluses," the Prosecutor General's Office reported Monday.

Thirty-five of Pyotr Kuznetsov's followers hid underground from October-November 2007 in the Penza Regions Bekovo district to survive what they believed would be the end of the world. Kuznetsov himself did not enter the shelter. His followers spent roughly half a year underground. Two women died.

They began leaving the shelter in April-May 2008. The last of his followers remained underground until May 16, 2008. Investigators later discovered religious materials written by Kuznetsov, who had dubbed himself the "schemonk Maxim" and the "poor Pyotr."

A forensic psychiatric commission ruled that he is insane. The court released Kuznetsov from criminal responsibility and ruled that he should be treated medically. His treatment was repeatedly prolonged upon the doctors' request. In January 2013, his doctors once again ruled that he suffers from a chronic mental disorder. On January 10, the chief doctor at the Penza Psychiatric Hospital applied a motion to extend Kuznetsov's treatment, according to the prosecutor's office.