{{Short description, 19th Century religious sect in Russia
The Postniki (постники "fasters") were a millennial sect of 19th century Southern
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
, a branch of the
Khlysty
The Khlysts or Khlysty ( rus, Хлысты, p=xlɨˈstɨ, "whips") were an underground Spiritual Christianity, Spiritual Christian sect which emerged in Russia in the 17th century.
The sect is traditionally said to have been founded in 1645 by ...
(flagellants) movement, founded by Abbakum (or Avvakum) Ivanov Kopylov (Аббакум / Аввакум Копылов, 1756–1838), a peasant of the
Tambov Oblast
Tambov Oblast () is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Tambov. As of the Russian Census (2010), 2010 Census, its population was&n ...
. Kopylov declared himself the living
Christ
Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...
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
Old Israel (''Staroizrail'') was a 19th-century sect founded in the 1830s by Perfil Katasonov, a disciple of Abbakum Kopylov, the founder of the Postniki (Fasters) sect, as the result of a schism. Its adherents considered themselves to be the Chos ...
(Old Israel) sect led by Kopylov's disciple Perfil Katasonov.
Soviet scholar A.I. Klibanov still encountered several postniki in
Rasskazovo
Rasskazovo () is a town in Tambov Oblast, Russia, located on the Lesnoy Tambov River ( Tsna's tributary) at its confluence with the Arzhenka River east of Tambov. Population:
History
It was founded in 1698 and named after Stepan Rasskazov, ...