The Oprichniki were Ivan the Terrible's secret police -- "secret police" in the sense of being political police, tasked with putting down any internal dissent or resistance to the regime. They dressed all in black and mounted dog skulls on their saddles, so of course they weren't too concerned with actually keeping their existence or operations secret.
Point being, they answered only to the Tsar, and felt free to treat everybody else exactly how they liked, and had no fear of being held accountable by any law other than the Tsar's will.
That is how arrogant ICE has become, as we can see in this thread.
Point being, they answered only to the Tsar, and felt free to treat everybody else exactly how they liked, and had no fear of being held accountable by any law other than the Tsar's will.
That is how arrogant ICE has become, as we can see in this thread.
