Penza, 8 October 2014. PenzaNews. NTV journalists met priest Alexiy Roy, head of the missionary department of the Penza Orthodox Church diocese, on Tuesday, October 7, while conducting an independent investigation of disappearance cases in the Penza region.

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As the diocese press center told PenzaNews agency, the discussion was focused on the issues over the Mikhaylovskaya religious cell located in Pobeda village.

“According to the journalist, their investigation uncovered the fact that a man that had recently gone missing was last seen in the religious cell. The same thing happened to a woman who arrived to the village with a group of pilgrims. It is entirely possible that these are not the only known cases, especially if you take the bad religious climate of the cell into account,” the press service representative said.

The diocese spokesperson also added that the head of the missionary department provided the journalists with photo, audio and video recordings taken by the diocese department in Pobeda village.

“The report will be aired at NTV channel on Monday, October 13, during the ‘Chrezvichaynye Proishestviya’ show on 11.30, 14.30 and 17.30,” the Penza region diocese press center informed.

As PenzaNews agency reported earlier, the Mikhaylovskaya religious cell was formed during the life of its inspirer, elder Aleksiy, and its members has been following his beliefs and keeping the cell active for more than 15 years.

Village often attracts visitors from other cities, who visit the grave of the elder by the Mikhaylovskaya religious cell.

The Penza region diocese states that the Mikhaylovskaya religious cell is not registered in the Russian Orthodox Church, while its members do not recognize the Moscow patriarch, and the books on elder Aleksiy do not agree with the most important axioms of the Orthodox religion.

According to the information acquired by PenzaNews agency, the Mikhaylovskaya religious cell was visited by Petr Kuznetsov, the spiritual leader of the hermits who had been hiding in the caves near Nikolskoe village of Bekovo region for over six months.

It is notable that several people living in the Mikhaylovskaya religious cell attend the Orthodox churches and observe the religious ceremonies and the fast.

In 2008, Kirill, then Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, now Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus, commented the situation over the Mikhaylovskaya religious cell in the Penza region, calling its members “poor people with clouded religious consciousness” and suggested to “leave them alone.”