Editing Yehowists (section)

==Before the Revolution==
During Ilyin's life, groups of Ilyinites were founded in different parts of the [[Russian Empire]]. This is due to the bulk sending of booklets, both by Ilyin and his followers. The center of the movement, before the [[Russian Revolution]], remained in Ural, but individual groups were also formed in [[Transcaucasia]], [[Northern Caucasus]], and [[Ukraine]]. Ilyinites were persecuted periodically and were often punished by exile to [[Central Asia]] and other parts of the Russian Empire. In the 19th and 20th centuries, Russians were populating parts of [[Kazakhstan]] and northern [[Kyrgyzstan]]. There were Yehowists among settlers who discovered that new places provide more religious freedom than they had in Russian regions.