concept
Oprichnik
oprichnik
also: опричник
Originally a member of Ivan the Terrible's feared political police (the oprichnina); by the 19th century a byword for a brutal enforcer or informer.
Reading notes
- Over Some Apples §2 the oprichnik
Originally a member of Ivan the Terrible's feared political police, the oprichnina; by the 19th century a byword for a brutal enforcer or informer, applied here mockingly to Karpushka.