Ruslana Korshunova’s desperate last days ‘after joining Rose of the World cult’ | Daily Mail Online

Russian beauty: Ruslana Korshunova is pictured above on the catwalk aged 18

New details have emerged of the last days of a Russian supermodel who leaped to her death from the ninth floor of a New York office building.

Ruslana Korshunova was 20 when she plummeted from a building next door to her apartment in Manhattan’s financial district in 2008.

It brought to an end a career that had seen her photographed for Vogue, parade down the catwalk and front luxury ad campaigns, helped along by her flowing hair and a rare genetic quirk that meant her piercing blue eyes always seemed to glisten.

The details of her death have baffled many – but new light may have been shed on her state of mind by an investigation into the Rose of the World cult that she joined shortly before her death.

Details of the cult were revealed to the New York Daily News by journalist Peter Pomerantsev, who researched Korshunova’s case for an upcoming book.

In its pages, the Rose cult’s reputation for ‘dehumanizing’ treatment of its followers was spelled out in detail, including meetings characterized by shouting, confusion and emotional domination.

Pomerantsev, who joined the cult to experience it first-hand, said that while he was there its ‘coaches’ humiliated and blamed members for the wrongs in their lives – and even described Korshunova as a ‘typical victim’.

The unnamed male leader said: ‘Ruslana was typical victim… [sic] Sometimes it’s better to commit suicide than not to change.’ 

She was driven to the group after her modelling career took a knock, and at a time her personal life was in disarray after she was jilted repeatedly by rich men who dazzled her with their wealth then left her.

Korshunova was born in Kazakhstan, then part of the Soviet Union, to a Russian mother and a father in the Red Army.

After the collapse of the USSR, she was picked up by modelling scouts, who seized upon her beauty and flew her to catwalks and parties around the world. 

Korshunova jumped from an office building next to her apartment – pictured above is her covered body in Manhattan’s Financial District

Bystanders look at the model’s body lying on the street in 2008 after she cut a hole in construction mesh on the ninth floor and jumped 

THORNY ISSUES: WHAT IS THE ROSE OF THE WORLD CULT?

The Rose Of The Word cult, known as Roza Mira, is an organization based in Moscow that has grown out of the works by Russsian mystic Daniil Andreev.

The mystical writer aimed to unify concepts of the world’s major religions but also believed in reincarnation and karma.

The cult grew out of a group known as Lifespring in the U.S. in the 1980s. The organization went bankrupt after former members sued for mental health damage. 

Journalist Peter Pomerantsev, who studied the cult, told the Daily News that the group aims to humiliate members, blaming them for their problems. One rape victim was told it was her fault. 

The cult even advocates that it is better for members to die if they cant change their ways.

Her high point was fronting a campaign for Nina Ricci perfume, and her glamorous lifestyle brought her into contact with rich, powerful men who would shower her with gifts to win her affection.

One enamored man even flew the model to his private Caribbean island.  

But after one particularly destructive break-up with an unnamed handsome tycoon, who reportedly promised to marry her, her mental state took a turn for the worse.

The break-up impacted her professional life, and bookings dried up, leading her towards the Moscow-based group, Rose of the World.

Her ex-boyfriend Artem Perchenok told the New York Post at the time that the 20-year-old would ‘take it out on herself’ when a modelling job went badly. 

Not long after signing up for one of their courses – which reportedly cost more than $300 a day – Korshunova was found dead on the street. 

An NYPD investigation determined that her death was indeed a suicide, though friends and family are reluctant to believe she would have killed herself. 

Video Source YouTube 

Ruslana Korshunova walks the catwalk for Cynthia Rowley during a fashion show in September 2007 (left). Right, she is pictured in a DKNY editorial campaign 

Model Ruslana Korshunova getting a touch-up backstage at Lela Rose spring collection 2006 at New York Fashion Week 

The 20-year-old model was reportedly brokenhearted over the end of a relationship with a handsome tycoon 

Her mother Valentina and brother Ruslan, live in Kazakhstan and at the time of her death, the model had been sending money to support them. 

Investigators found no suicide note but the model had written messages online about her despair over her failed relationship and missing family and friends in Kazakhstan.

They found a hole cut in construction mesh on the ninth floor along with a knife. 

And the fact of her landing so far from the building – having cleared it by 28 feet – suggests that by the end she was certain enough of her fate to take a running leap.

Ruslana Korshunova, pictured center with ex-boyfriend Artem Perchenok at a party. The model who fronted designer campaigns committed suicide in 2008 

The Russian model cut through construction mesh and jumped to her death from the building in Manhattan’s financial district in 2008

Catwalk fame: Korshunova (right) is pictured above alongside British supermodel Lily Cole (center) and Jessica Stam (left)