Leonid Nikolayevich Punin (born Ataman Nikolayevich Punin; 1892–1916), was a Russian hero of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, a Russian partisan and head of the special squad of the Northern Front.

Family

Leonid Punin was born Ataman Punin in 1892, to military doctor Nikolay Mikhaylovich Punin and an unknown actress. His elder brother, Nikolay Punin, became a famous Soviet art critic who later died in a concentration camp as a result of his opposition to

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

's regime. Alexander Punin, Leonid's second eldest brother, fought in the First World War and later became a biologist. His younger brother Lev Punin also went into the military. Zinaida, the only sister, married Josef Bulack-Balakhowitch and moved to Poland where she died in 1983.

Military career, 1914–1915

Ataman Punin graduated from Pavlovskoje's Voennoe Uchilische (a military school) then joined the 8th Finnish shooters regiment, with whom he fought German and Austrian troops in the first half of 1915. Punin then was made the head of rager's squad of that regiment. For his courage, this officer was awarded with St. George's cross (4th class), St. Vladimir's cross (4th class with swords and bow), and many other military orders.

Ataman Punin's squad

In September 1915 Punin (then commanding officer) started a project for a partisan squad. That project received support from members of the Russian

Royal Family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...

and by November 1915 he had begun to put together the squad. By November 26 the completed squad consisted of 10 officers and more than 300 soldiers. Among them there were 37 Latvians (from the 2nd Latvian shooters battalion), and about 50 people who knew Polish and German. The squad became a school for the future White Generals. Among the officers of Punin's squad were Baron Ungern-Shternberg (commander of the 3d squadron and in the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

, the first White General), Stanislaw and Jusef Bulack-Balakhowitch (Polish Bułak-Bałachowicz who then fought for the independence of Belarus), Georghij Dombrovsky (Polish Jerzy Dąmbrowski, a famous partisan known as "Lupaschka"), Illarion Stavskij (commander of a battalion of the Talabaski regiment in the Civil War), and Nikolay Zujev Зуев, Николай Алексеевич (called a "Russian

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

," a

double agent In the field of counterintelligence, a double agent is an employee of a secret intelligence service for one country, whose primary purpose is to spy on a target organization of another country, but who is now spying on their own country's organi ...

who worked both for Stalin and the

White Army The White Army, also known as the White Guard, the White Guardsmen, or simply the Whites, was a common collective name for the armed formations of the White movement and Anti-Sovietism, anti-Bolshevik governments during the Russian Civil War. T ...

). Punin's squad was the only partisan regiment on the Russian Northern Front. It fought against German troops near

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

(Kemeri), taking part in the battles of Mittaw (December 1916) and Riga (Summer 1917). The regiment worked so well that the

Grand Duke Grand duke (feminine: grand duchess) is a European hereditary title, used either by certain monarchs or by members of certain monarchs' families. The title is used in some current and former independent monarchies in Europe, particularly: * in ...

s and commanders awarded its members with military orders and medals. He was shot and killed in a battle with German troops on September 1 of 1916 near Anticiems. He was buried in the town of Pavlovsk (near St. Petersburg, Russia). His brother Alexandre succeeded him as leader of the squad. In March 1917 the squad received a new official name: "Ataman Punin's Special Squad." The squad remained active until disbanding in February 1918.

References

* Olga Khoroshilova. Horsemen of Special Service. Moscow, 2012 / Ольга Андреевна Хорошилова. Всадники особого назначения. Москва, издательство "Русские витязи", 2012 * Olga Khoroshilova. Military Partizans of The Great war. 2002 {{DEFAULTSORT:Punin, Leonid 1892 births 1916 deaths Russian military personnel killed in World War I