The Postniki were a millennial sect of 19th century Southern Russia, a branch of the Khlysty (flagellants) movement, founded by Abbakum (or Avvakum) Ivanov Kopylov (Аббакум / Аввакум Копылов, 1756–1838), a peasant of the Tambov Oblast

Tambov Oblast

Tambov Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the city of Tambov. Population: down from 1,178,443 recorded by the 2002 Census.Tambov Oblast is situated in forest steppe.-Birth rate:...

. Kopylov declared himself the living Christ

Christ

Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...

 and gathered a considerable following in the 1820s. After Kopylov's death in 1838, the sect disintegrated in various schisms, giving rise to follow-up groups such as the Staroizrail

Staroizrail

Old Israel was a 19th century sect founded in the 1830s by Perfil Katasonov, a disciple of Abbakum Kopylov, the founder of the Postniki sect, as the result of a schism. Its adherents considered themselves to be the Chosen People establishing the Kingdom of God on earth...

 (Old Israel) sect led by Kopylov's disciple Perfil Katasonov.

Soviet scholar A.I. Klibanov still encountered several postniki in Rasskazovo

Rasskazovo

Rasskazovo is a town in Tambov Oblast, Russia, located on the Lesnoy Tambov River at its confluence with the Arzhenka River east of Tambov. Population:...

in 1959.

External links

• http://www.doukhobor.org/New-Israel.htm
• http://www.molokane.org/molokan/Religion/Dekhtevich_Khlysty.html