Many of the cult's followers had abandoned homes and families, prompting distraught parents to appeal to local authorities, the media, as well as the Ministry of Internal Affairs, to help them get their children back. Our family has joined the Committee to Save Young People From Pseudo-religions. On November 9, just five days before the world was to end, one group of White Brothers in Arkhangelsk declared war on Orthodox believers. They interrupted Orthodox services, urging churchgoers to turn from Christianity and to embrace Maria Devi as god. As November 14 approached, Maria Devi reportedly prepared herself to be crucified and resurrected in Kiev as part of a last judgment.
Rumors spread of impending acts of terrorism and of mass suicide.
Parents in Kiev were afraid to allow their children on the streets. In response, Ukraine's President Leonid Kravchuk gave government authorities power to expel nonresidents from Kiev. Authorities detained or arrested hundreds of followers of the Great White Brotherhood. At the time, some Western observers drew obvious and legitimate parallels between the cult of the White Brotherhood and the Branch Davidians who had so recently followed self-proclaimed deity David Koresh to violent deaths. While Koresh and his followers mirrored aspects of popular culture and at the same time strove for separation from it, the White Brotherhood links its teachings to Slavic people and practices from the past, making this new religion appealing to a broad segment of the population of Russia and Ukraine.