Members of a doomsday cult that believes the world will end next May and that barcodes are a sign of the Antichrist are holed up in a cave in south-east Russia and threatening to blow themselves up if the authorities try and eject them.

Yesterday, priests and officials were trying to talk to the 29, mainly female, followers of "Father" Pyotr Kuznetsov, founder of the "True Russian Orthodox Church" sect. Inside the cave near Nikoskoye, a village about 400 miles south-east of Moscow, the cult has stockpiled food and 100 gallons of kerosene. There were also reports that when an approach was made a few days ago, gunshots came from the cave. Its inhabitants include four children, one only 16 months old.