Profile of Aum Supporters
The major cell of Aum was situated in Japan, although it was successful in recruiting members to cells in other countries. The most notable of these was Russia, where the appeal of Eastern religion was strong amongst the post-Soviet population. The largest portion of Aum followers outside of Japan were found in Russia. The Russian branch originally drew even more followers than the Japanese branch did, however the culmination of a raid on Aum’s Moscow offices, the revoking of Aum’s status as a religion in Russia, and the damage done to Aum’s supposedly peaceful reputation by their involvement in the sarin gas bombing, served to diminished the group’s strength and presence in the country.[2]
- Brian Jackson, Aptitude for Destruction: Case Studies of Organizational Learning in Five Terrorist Groups. RAND Corporation, 2005
- Ibid