Day of the Oprichnik (Russian: День опричника, Den' oprichnika) is a 2006 novel by the Russian writer Vladimir Sorokin. The narrative is set in the near future, when the Russian Empire has been restored, and follows a government henchman, an oprichnik, through a day of grotesque events.Sorokin in one of the later interviews confessed that he did not anticipate his novel to come to life so true in many ways, even some subtle details, but rather wrote this book as a warning and "mystical precaution" against the state of events described in the storyline.