The bear is clumsy. Leonid Panteleev. Service in the Red Army

Life story
Calm down, I’m Lenka Panteleev!
Leonid Panteleev (real name Pantelkin, was changed by him for purposes of conspiracy) was born in 1902 in the city of Tikhvin, now the Leningrad region. He graduated from primary school and vocational courses, during which he received the prestigious profession of a printer and typesetter at that time, then worked in the printing house of the Kopeyka newspaper. In 1919, Panteleev, who had not yet reached conscription age, voluntarily joined the Red Army and was sent to the Narva Front. It is reliably known that he took direct part in the battles with Yudenich’s army and the White Estonians, and rose to the position of commander of a machine gun platoon.
In the spring of 1921, the five-million-strong Red Army, which had won the civil war, was sharply reduced. Thousands of demobilized Red Army soldiers scattered throughout the country, and each of them had to arrange his own destiny. It was not known exactly what Panteleev did after demobilization. And only very recently the rumors were confirmed - indeed, at that time he served in the Cheka! It took a lot of time to document this fact. Only recently was Panteleev’s personal file found in the FSB archives.
The text of the archival certificate is short, but informative: “Materials of the operating funds department ... - personal file No. 119135 on Leonid Ivanovich Pantelkin, born in 1902, native of the city of Tikhvin, former Novgorod province. As can be seen from the materials of this case, Pantelkin L.I. On July 11, 1921, he was hired as an investigator in the military control unit of the Road Transport Extraordinary Commission (VChK DTChK) of the united North-Western Railways. On October 15, 1921, he was transferred to the position of agent-controller in the DTChK department in the city of Pskov, and in "Dismissed due to staff reduction in January 1922. The order number and specific date of dismissal are not indicated."
In general, it is clear for what reasons these facts were not widely advertised. A security officer turned bandit is ideal ground for various speculations. Moreover, the reason for Panteleev’s dismissal from the Cheka is still unclear. There are many versions. The most common one is that he turned out to be dishonest, was caught red-handed, etc. Perhaps he did not have a good relationship with his superiors. Another option is not excluded - Panteleev stood on the radical positions of leftist party members and had a negative attitude towards the new economic policy, which was the reason for his dismissal.
One way or another, at the beginning of 1922 Panteleev ended up in Petrograd, put together a small gang and began robbing. The composition of the gang was quite varied. It included Panteleev’s colleague in the Pskov Cheka Varshulevich, Gavrikov, who was a battalion commissar and member of the RCP(b) during the Civil War, as well as professional criminals such as Alexander Reintop (nickname Sashka-Pan) and Mikhail Lisenkov (nickname Mishka-Clumsy).
The first serious action of Panteleev’s group was a raid on the apartment of the famous Petrograd furrier Bogachov. On March 4, 1922, at three o'clock in the afternoon, when the owners were not at home, three raiders with revolvers in their hands broke into the apartment and tied up the servants. Having broken into cabinets and drawers, the bandits took the valuables in the house and calmly exited through the back door. Exactly two weeks later, Panteleev’s gang robbed the apartment of Dr. Grilikhes, who was engaged in private practice. The handwriting of the raiders was the same - in broad daylight, under the guise of patients, they entered the apartment, robbed its owner and disappeared.
In the spring of 1922, the whole of Petrograd started talking about Panteleev’s gang. The fact is that when carrying out raids, Lenka first shot in the air, and then he always called his name. This was a psychological move - the bandits created authority for themselves, and at the same time suppressed the will of their victims, their ability to resist. Moreover, the raiders took only rich Nepmen to the “gop-stop”, without touching ordinary people. Moreover, Panteleev personally allocated small sums of money to some nice ragamuffins and street children, which earned him the reputation of “Petrograd Robin Hood.”
The police took the daring gang seriously. On June 12, on Zagorodny Prospekt, a criminal investigation officer identified Lenka by signs and tried to detain him. A shootout broke out, and police officers joined the chase. But Panteleev left through the passage yards, shooting one of the guards. The fact that the police were on the tail of the gang did not bother its leader at all. On June 26, Dr. Levin's apartment was robbed. This time the raiders were dressed in the uniform of Baltic sailors.
Then Panteleev bought a leather jacket and cap at a flea market and began to pretend to be an employee of the GPU. Using forged warrants, the gang searched and requisitioned valuables from Nepmen Anikeev and Ishchens. In August, bandits stopped a carriage on the Champs de Mars and robbed three of its passengers - they took money, watches, and gold rings. A few days later, the same robbery was committed at the Splendid Palace nightclub.
On September 1, the raiders decided to rob the Kozhtrest shoe store, located on the corner of Nevsky Prospekt and Zhelyabova Street. But here an ambush was already waiting for them. The bandits offered fierce resistance during the arrest, opening fire from revolvers. The firefight soon escalated into hand-to-hand combat. They managed to subdue Panteleev only after he was stunned. During a shootout in the store, assistant to the 3rd police department, Bardzai, was killed.
Jail break
Under heavy security, the raiders were taken to the 1st correctional home - now the Kresty pre-trial detention center. The investigation moved quickly, and already in October the accused Leonid Panteleev, Nikolai Gavrikov, Mikhail Lisenkov and Alexander Reintop appeared in court.
Once in the dock, Panteleev behaved confidently and even brazenly. He used criminal words, swore, read Sergei Yesenin’s poems by heart, tried to sing obscene songs, and even managed to have a “platonic” affair with his lawyer’s fiancée, who regularly attended the trial. In general, he made the most favorable impression on the audience.
Lenka answered the prosecutor’s questions boldly and, in the end, said: “Citizens of the judge, why all this farce? I’ll run away soon anyway.” And indeed, on the night of November 10-11, Leonid Panteleev and three accomplices escaped from the strictly guarded Kresta prison.
Escaping from prison has always been difficult. And even more so from the Crosses.
The famous St. Petersburg prison was built in 1893, not far from the Finland Station. It got its name, at first unofficial, due to the fact that two buildings for holding prisoners were built in the form of crosshairs of equal length. The prison buildings were surrounded by a powerful six-meter fence surrounded by barbed wire. Towers with floodlights (a technical innovation at that time) and security were installed at the corners of the perimeter. The sentries on the towers were armed with Colt or Lewis light machine guns. All this reliably guaranteed against escapes.
Panteleev was kept in cell No. 196, located on the second floor of the investigation building. His accomplices are nearby. Lisenkov is in the neighboring 195th cell, Reintop is in the 191st, and a little further away Gavrikov is in the 185th cell.
The prison telegraph immediately started working. Panteleev managed to contact his colleagues in the criminal business. Reintop, who was a prison servant, also decided to escape. He managed to establish a “business relationship” with the supervisor of the fourth gallery, Ivan Kondratyev. He had long had contacts with the Petrograd underworld and agreed to help the gang escape.
Kondratyev pointed out to the arrested a weak spot on the outer wall. Just not far from the bathhouse adjacent to Komsomol Street, firewood was piled against the wall. Winter was approaching, and the prison was still heated in the old fashioned way - with stoves. The top of the wood piles almost reached the top level of the wall. But jumping to the other side from a height of many meters was dangerous. Therefore, Lisenkov, unnoticed by the guards, began to weave ropes from blankets and sheets, along which it was possible to descend from the high wall to the ground.
The escape was originally scheduled for November 7th. But on this day something didn’t work out. The next attempt was made on the night of November 10-11. Warden Kondratyev released Lisenkov, Reintop, Panteleev, Gavrikov from their cells and turned off the lights in the gallery. Moreover, he managed to de-energize the entire building.
A reasonable question arises: why, after the lights went out, did the guards not declare a general alarm? The answer is simple - in those days, city substations worked at the limit of technical wear and tear, and power outages in prison were common. The Krestov security did not react in any way to the latest “accident”.
In the darkness, four bandits and Kondratyev began to advance towards the main post. Here they unexpectedly came across the chief overseer of the 4th gallery, Vasiliev. He struck a match, recognized Kondratyev and said:
- Why are you wandering here in the dark, Ivan? Drunk or something, he almost knocked me off my feet. And what kind of gavriki is this with you?
Vasiliev didn’t have time to say anything more. Panteleev and Reintop attacked him and strangled him with a clothesline. For appearances, Kondratyev was stunned and tied with another rope. Lenka changed into the uniform overcoat of the murdered warden, put on his cap, put his revolver in his holster, and began to pose as a guard. The entire group managed to calmly get out of the building. They went out into the street through an emergency passage, along which the prisoners were taken to the bathhouse. On ordinary days there was no watch there. The keys to the doors were taken from Kondratyev. Then everything went like clockwork. The raiders ran across the narrow prison yard, climbed onto a stack of firewood, and cut the barbed wire with special scissors. Then they unwound the pre-prepared ropes, secured them, and descended into freedom. In the nearest alley, a reckless driver with a covered top was already waiting for the fugitives. The guards on the tower did not notice anything; it was raining heavily with snow, and the spotlight was shining in the other direction.
Fight in Donon
Panteleev decided to celebrate his successful escape at the fashionable Donon restaurant. In those days it was a hot spot, known throughout Petrograd. Raiders, robbers, all sorts of dark personalities, as well as wealthy businessmen, representatives of the new, NEPman elite, regularly gathered there.
On December 9, 1922 (four weeks after the escape!), Panteleev fell into Donon along with his right-hand man Gavrikov and another bandit, Varshulevich. On the occasion of the holiday, Lenka dressed up in a new officer's jacket and polished his boots until they shined.
At first everything went well. But Panteleev had too much cognac and got involved with some Nepman company. To prevent a fight, the head waiter called the police. Seeing guards in the restaurant hall, Panteleev pulled out a Mauser.
In the famous television series "Born of the Revolution" it is stated that Panteleev was shot dead in the hall of the Donon restaurant. But this is the creative invention of the director and screenwriter. In fact, events unfolded differently. In the ensuing shootout, Varshulevich was killed. Panteleev and Gavrikov jumped out through the back door and ran in all directions. Gavrikov was detained on Nevsky Prospekt by a mounted police patrol. Soon he was shot.
Panteleev was luckier. Wounded in the arm, he escaped the fray. I ran along the Moika embankment to the Pavlovsk barracks, and then moved towards Liteiny Prospekt. Criminal investigation agents arrived at the scene with a service dog. She led the detectives to the Champ de Mars, where the trail of the repeat offender ended. The agents walked at random along Panteleimonovskaya Street, passed the church and... did not notice Panteleev lying there. The raider lay on the stone floor of the church all night, and in the morning he took refuge on one of his “raspberries”.
The fight in the restaurant caused a lot of noise. Rumors again spread around the city about Panteleev’s elusiveness and his extraordinary luck. After the shootout in Donon, Panteleev became twice as careful and circumspect.
He had a new plan. He decided to leave Petrograd and make his way to Estonia. It was planned to cross the border in the Pskov region - these places were well known to Lenka from his service in the Red Army. But the raider did not decide to leave the cordon empty-handed - he needed money and jewelry.
Panteleev quickly put together a new gang, which was particularly active for three months, leaving bloody trails in its wake. The raiders split into pairs, lived in different apartments, uniting only during robberies. Then everyone ran away and lay down on the bottom. Later, police officers calculated that Lenka had more than thirty reliable shelters in different areas of the city.
The new tactics bore fruit. The police lost sight of Panteleev. It is believed that over the past three months the gang has committed 10 murders, 15 raids, and 20 street robberies. But these are approximate figures; no one knows the exact statistics. The Panteleevites used their weapons without warning.
The bloodiest raid was on the apartment of engineer Romanchenko. Having burst into the hallway, the bandits used knives to finish off the owner and his wife, and shot the dog that rushed at them with a point-blank shot.
One day Panteleev felt he was being followed. The young sailor had been following him for two blocks, without turning anywhere. Lenka turned the corner, took out his Mauser, and when the “tail” appeared, he fired the entire clip into it. But I was mistaken - the sailor did not serve in the criminal investigation department, but was simply going home on leave.
A day later, Panteleev shot a real Ugro employee who followed him on the street. Panic gripped the city. When darkness fell, people were afraid to go out. Hardware workshops were inundated with orders for various ingenious locks and chains. Rumor began to attribute all the robberies, robberies and murders committed in the city to Panteleev.
The raiders several times entered into a firefight with mounted police patrols, Ugro agents, and guards and successfully escaped.
Bloody finale
To help the criminal investigation department eliminate the dangerous gang, the GPU got involved in the case. Several special strike groups were created, which included experienced security officers. They once again analyzed Panteleev’s connections. Twenty ambushes were set up in places where he might appear. One of Panteleev’s “raspberries” was located in house No. 38 on Mozhaiskaya Street. Late in the evening of February 12, two unknown people entered this apartment, opening the door with their key. In the ambush were four Red Army soldiers of the GPU special regiment and the senior group, young security officer Ivan Busko. Everyone was somewhat taken aback by surprise. The more experienced Panteleev was the first to come to his senses. He stepped forward sharply and said in a firm voice:
- What’s the matter, comrades, who are you waiting for here? At the same time, he tried to pull the pistol out of his pocket. However, the trigger caught on clothing and an involuntary shot rang out. Then the ambush opened fire. Panteleev, shot through the head, collapsed dead on the floor. Lisenkov, wounded in the neck, tried to escape, but was detained.
One of the Red Army soldiers ran to the nearest police station and called the task force by phone. She arrived very quickly. The GPU officers saw the following picture - there was a huge puddle of blood in the corridor, and the entire floor in the apartment was stained with it. In the kitchen, right at the entrance, a corpse lay with its head towards the window. In the room, on a chair, swaying from side to side, sat a young guy, bandaged. He was guarded by two Red Army soldiers with rifles.
One of the operatives sat down at the table and began to write a report on the inspection of the scene and the act of identifying the corpse:
"1923 February 13th day.
We, the undersigned UR officers, arrived at house No. 38, apt. 21 on Mozhaiskaya Street, examined the corpse of the man killed in an ambush at the scene of the incident, and based on all available signs we established... The height of the deceased is approximately 176 cm, his hair is dyed, his neck is thick. On the left side, above the eye, there is a scar on the corpse’s head that covers the passage of the bullet. The outline of the face clearly proves the original photograph of the famous recidivist bandit Leonid Panteleev. ...In the pockets of the corpse were found: a Browning Spanish and a Mauser, a black new wallet containing 2,600 rubles, documents addressed to Ivanov: a work book and an identity card, two yellow metal chains, a medal with the inscription “For Diligence,” a yellow metal bracelet , a ring with two white and one red stones, a ring with a lady’s portrait, a yellow metal ring with a blue stone.”
In the morning, a small note appeared in the Petrograd newspapers: “On the night of February 12-13, a strike group for the fight against banditry at the provincial department of the GPU with the participation of the criminal investigation department, after a long search, caught a famous bandit, who has recently become famous for his brutal murders and raids, Leonid Pantelkin, nicknamed "Lenka Panteleev". During his arrest, Lenka offered desperate armed resistance, during which he was KILLED."
On March 6, 1923, by verdict of the GPU board, the remaining nine members of the gang were shot. But rumors persisted in Petrograd that Lenka was alive and would show himself. Several times during the raids, unknown bandits called themselves Panteleev, Lisenkov, or Gavrikov. And then the authorities took an extraordinary measure. Panteleev’s body was skillfully “restored” and put on public display in the morgue of the Obukhov hospital. Thousands of Petrograd residents came to see the legendary raider. Only after this did the rumor curve go down sharply.
And Lenka’s head, preserved in alcohol, was sent to the criminal investigation classroom of the criminal investigation department. Three years ago, this “exhibit” was accidentally discovered at the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg State University.

Leonid Ivanovich Pantyolkin, better known as Lyonka Panteleev, was the coolest St. Petersburg bandit of the mid-20s. In the long history of the criminal world of St. Petersburg - Petrograd - Leningrad there is no more famous character than Lenka Panteleev.

We can safely say that the bandit Lenka has become a kind of St. Petersburg legend. He was so elusive and successful that he was even credited with mysticism...
On February 13, 1923, Lyonka Panteleev, one of the most famous and daring Petrograd raiders, died in a shootout with security officers.
By the age of 20, he managed to take part in revolutionary events, fight in the Red Army with Yudenich’s troops and even serve in the Cheka. And he recruited several former security officers and commissars into his gang.
Although his gang operated only for about a year, rumors circulated throughout Petrograd that Lyonka was elusive, and his name became as famous in Petrograd as Lenin’s.

Exemplary citizen

Leonid Pantyolkin was born in the Novgorod province in 1902. He took the surname Panteleev, by which he became known thanks to his criminal business, later, probably because of its greater euphony.
After studying in elementary school and taking special courses, Panteleev received the profession of a typesetter in a printing house. In those days, printing workers received good money. Some sources report that Panteleev took part in the storming of the Winter Palace in October 1917, and he himself is called a revolutionary sailor.
However, at that time he was 15 years old, he was unlikely to be a sailor, but he could participate in revolutionary events. They didn't ask about age then.
It is known that in 1919, 17-year-old Panteleev volunteered to join the Red Army and took part in hostilities against Yudenich, who was advancing on Petrograd, as the commander of a machine-gun platoon. According to some reports, Panteleev was even captured, but later he was either able to escape or was released.
In 1921, the then huge Red Army was demobilized. After this, Panteleev comes to the Cheka. He had an almost exemplary biography - he was accepted into the service without any problems. So Panteleev, who had barely reached adulthood, became an investigator of the road transport commission of the Cheka of the North-Western Railways.

Leonid Panteleev is a current employee of the Cheka (standing fourth from the right).
True, his service was short-lived. Just three months later he is demoted and sent as a controller agent to Pskov. And in January 1922, just six months after the start of his service, Panteleev was fired from the authorities.
The reason for the dismissal remained unknown, due to which later various versions arose, including the most dubious: allegedly Panteleev was introduced into a criminal environment. In fact, Panteleev was suspected of complicity in the raid, but there was little evidence.
The time spent in the Cheka was not in vain: there he managed to find an associate. One of the first members of Panteleev’s gang was his former Cheka colleague Leonid Bass. In addition, the former commissar of one of the units of the Red Army, Varshulevich, joined the gang, and Panteleev’s closest associate, “adjutant,” was party member Gavrikov.
However, the gang included not only former security officers and commissars, but also two professional criminals: Reintop and Lisenkov.

Dashing gang

The first years after the end of the Civil War were the heyday of the raiders. Professional criminals of the pre-revolutionary era were strictly divided into categories and followed unwritten rules and traditions.
But the revolution in those years took place not only in the political, but also in the criminal world. Old traditions were becoming a thing of the past. For example, the most famous Moscow raider Yasha Koshelkov, who once robbed Lenin himself, was a pickpocket before the revolution.
The task of the raiders was made easier by the security officers, who carried out searches every night; in such an atmosphere, it cost them nothing, posing as security officers, to enter houses and rob them.

In 1922–1923 there was a second wave of raiders. Now most of them were no longer professional criminals, but soldiers demobilized from the army who had previously had no problems with the law.
Accustomed to unpunished violence in war and during the suppression of peasant uprisings, they already had difficulty fitting into a peaceful society. In addition, many were disappointed by the NEP that had begun, which the most radical of the ideological communists viewed as a betrayal of the revolution and the restoration of capitalism.
The raiders acted boldly and without fear of anything, often trailing behind them a long trail of bloody crimes. They terrorized the cities and became a headache for the criminal investigation department and the Cheka.
In March 1922, Panteleev's gang committed their first crime. A raid was carried out on the apartment of furrier Bogachev. Threatening the owners with weapons, the bandits searched the apartment and took away several fur items.
However, Panteleev himself was first of all dissatisfied, considering the production insignificant. Therefore, after two weeks, they carried out a raid on the apartment of Dr. Griliches using the same scheme. But even in this case, it was not possible to get hold of money.
After the first failures, Panteleev fell into depression and did not go to work for three months. The craft of a raider turned out to be not as profitable as he expected. Meanwhile, there were many witnesses who remembered him well and described him to the police, and Panteleev was included in the police's wanted list.

In June, a security officer named Vasiliev, who was riding on a tram, accidentally recognized Panteleev and tried to detain the criminal. Panteleev, firing back, fled. The head of the State Bank security, Chmutov, tried to detain him (Panteleev was escaping the pursuit through the courtyard of this institution), but was killed in a shootout. This is how the first blood was shed, and the Panteleevs became very interested in the organs.
The police began searching for Panteleev, methodically detaining and interrogating his numerous cohabitants. The handsome and young Panteleev had many mistresses, whom he used as spotters, preferring women to all others, since he believed that a woman in love would never betray him to the police.
The shootout gave the depressed Panteleev additional impetus, and he intensified his activities. The gang raided Dr. Levin's apartment, where they got there under the guise of sailors who came with health complaints. The owners of the apartment were tied up and almost all their belongings were taken out of it.
A few days later, Panteleev’s gang, under the guise of security officers who came with a search, robbed the jeweler Anikeev. At the same time, the bandits played their role so well that they complied with all the necessary formalities with documents, but made mistakes on small things.
The search warrant was issued in the name of Alexei Timofeev, and one of the bandits inadvertently signed his name as Nikolai Timofeev. This fact alerted the owner of the apartment - after the bandits left, he turned to the Cheka for clarification and learned that no search had been carried out or planned.
Panteleev began to change his work pattern, most of the raids brought mere pennies, he stopped disdaining even banal street violence. Bandits began to go out to the Field of Mars at night and stop cabs carrying citizens who seemed wealthy to Panteleev.

After that, at gunpoint, they took away all the valuables they had on them. A similar robbery on Karavannaya Street ended in blood: Panteleev imagined that the victim - Nikolaev - wanted to get a revolver, and he was shot. They also shot the wife so as not to leave any witnesses.
There were rumors about Panteleev that he only robbed Nepmen and did not touch proletarians, but in fact he didn’t care, the main thing was that the victim had some valuables with him.

Lyonka got caught

In September 1922, Panteleev’s career almost came to an end. He fell into the hands of the police. After another successful robbery, Panteleev and Gavrikov went to a shoe store to buy new shoes. Quite by chance, policeman Bardzai came there and recognized Panteleev.
A shootout ensued, as a result of which the policeman was killed. However, colleagues who arrived to help were able to detain the bandits. During his arrest, Panteleev was hit hard on the head, which is why the most famous photograph taken after his arrest shows him with a bandaged head.
The trial began, and, given Panteleev’s rich track record and several murders, it could only end with a death sentence. However, at the trial Panteleev was surprisingly calm and even imposing.

Later, Panteleev’s calm behavior became clear: he was already preparing his escape. It was unthinkable to escape from the courtroom; the bandit was guarded by a double escort. But this does not mean that you cannot escape from Kresty.
One of the guards, named Kondratyev, was promised 20 billion rubles (a significant amount, but, given the inflation of that time, not so huge) for his help. He had to distract the other guard, and then turn off the light so that Panteleev’s accomplices, who were housed in neighboring cells, and he himself could escape. The plan was a brilliant success.

Free again

But now it was much more difficult for Panteleev’s gang. Thanks to a high-profile trial and an equally high-profile escape, the entire Petrograd police and the Cheka were hunting for the bandits. And every third inhabitant knew Panteleev by sight.
The bandits split up, Panteleev and Gavrikov began to work on the Champ de Mars, robbing belated passers-by. However, there were few wealthy people among them; Panteleev received mere pennies from his trade. In addition, the police became interested in the sharply increased number of robberies on the Field of Mars, and Panteleev left this place.
He became suspicious; he seemed to see agents of the criminal investigation department and the Cheka everywhere. He even shot a random sailor when he thought he was following him. An attempt to get close to the bandits through the converted warden Kondratyev also failed; Panteleev noticed the warden was being followed and did not show up for the meeting.
In winter, the gang gathered together again and carried out the last and bloodiest series of raids. This time they broke into apartments and killed their victims at the slightest suspicion that they would resist.

The Cheka patrol is looking for Panteleev on the streets.
After a series of bloody robberies, Panteleev was taken especially seriously. A special GPU strike group was created, whose task was to search and capture the raider.
In mid-December, Panteleev and Gavrikov, having drunk heavily, decided to visit the Donon restaurant. The restaurant was fashionable, its visitors were mainly those who were then called Nepmen, and they refused to let drunk Panteleev and Gavrikov into the hall. They caused a scandal, as a result of which the head waiter called the police.
Seeing the policemen, the bandits started to run, but were detained. Since the police did not recognize Panteleev, he was escorted as an ordinary hooligan. Thanks to this, Panteleev managed to escape, hitting the guards. A shootout ensued, but the bandit, wounded in the arm, managed to escape the pursuit by hiding in a church building. However, his accomplice remained in the hands of the police.

The end of Panteleev

This meant that Panteleev lost most of his safe houses, in which he could lie low and wait out the storm. Now there was no point in going there; an ambush could be waiting in each of them.
January 1923 was the last month of the gang's activities. Panteleev, driven into a corner and spending the night at the stations, went into all serious troubles. His gang sometimes committed several robberies a day. During his last month of freedom, Panteleev committed more murders than in his entire life.
Ten people became victims of Panteleev this month, and in total he and his accomplices committed almost 40 robberies and raids during this period. The city was in panic; all the crimes committed there were attributed to Panteleev and his gang.

S. Kondratyev, head of the GPU operational group, who led the search for L. Panteleev.
Ambushes were set up at almost every one of Panteleev’s safe houses. Panteleev showed up there several times to check, but he managed to evade the ambushes. This was the case until February 13, 1923.
At night, Panteleev, together with his colleague nicknamed Koryavy, decided to visit a prostitute they knew who lived on Mozhaiskaya Street. They were sure that law enforcement officers knew nothing about this apartment. With a guitar and a drink, they showed up at the apartment and came across an ambush - four Red Army soldiers, led by security officer Busko, were already waiting for them in the apartment.
Panteleev didn’t even have time to get his weapon before he was shot. Clumsy, who was standing next to him, was wounded and was arrested. However, the news of Panteleev’s death was met with disbelief; after he escaped from prison and evaded pursuit so many times, Panteleev gained fame as an elusive criminal, he even received the nickname Lyonka Fartovy. In addition, robberies and raids continued to occur in the city.
To put an end to the rumors, Panteleev’s body was put on public display in the morgue so that everyone could be convinced of the death of the famous criminal.
The second birth of the myth about the elusive Lyonka occurred already in Brezhnev times and coincided with the next wave of revolutionary romance in Soviet culture. One of the episodes of the extremely popular Soviet series “Born of the Revolution” - the epic story of the Soviet police - was dedicated to Panteleev and the fight against him.

True, in the film the image of Panteleev differs significantly from the real one, in addition, more than 80 murders are attributed to him, while in reality there were about fifteen of them. Thanks to this film, the image of Panteleev migrated to the then underground thieves' song, and after the collapse of the USSR, Panteleev became the hero of numerous songs in the chanson genre.
It was thanks to the film that Panteleev became known as raider No. 1, although in reality his gang was neither the bloodiest nor the most successful. Around the same time, much more brutal and even more terrifying gangs were operating: Kotov’s gang (accounted for 116 murders), Belov’s gang (27 murders). However, now no one remembers their names. And Panteleev became a kind of symbol of Petrograd crime.

"I'll plant the whole alley with flowers,
But I don’t have it... a rose in a white glass..."
Favorite criminal song of Lenka Panteleev

E His real name was Pantelkin. He was the coolest St. Petersburg bandit of the mid-20s.
In the long history of the criminal world of St. Petersburg - Petrograd - Leningrad - St. Petersburg, there is no more famous character than Lenka Panteleev. We can safely say that the bandit Lenka has become a kind of St. Petersburg legend. He was so elusive and successful that he was even credited with mysticism.

Lenka was born in 1902 in the city of Tikhvin, now the Leningrad region. He graduated from primary school and vocational courses, during which he received the prestigious profession of a printer and typesetter at that time, then worked in the printing house of the Kopeyka newspaper.

In 1919, Panteleev, who had not yet reached conscription age, voluntarily joined the Red Army and was sent to the Narva Front. It is reliably known that he took direct part in the battles with Yudenich’s army and the White Estonians, rose to the position of commander of a machine gun platoon.

It was not known exactly what Panteleev did after demobilization. And only recently a sensation broke out! He served in the Cheka! Personal file No. 119135 for Leonid Ivanovich Pantelkin was found in the FSB archives.
It is clear for what reasons these facts were kept secret. A security officer turned bandit is ideal ground for various speculations. Moreover, the reason for Panteleev’s dismissal from the Cheka is still unclear.

Leonid Panteleev is a current employee of the Cheka (standing fourth from the right).

However, at the beginning of 1922, Panteleev found himself in Petrograd, put together a small gang and began robbing. The composition of the gang was varied. It included Panteleev’s colleague in the Pskov Cheka Varshulevich, Gavrikov, who was a battalion commissar and member of the RCP(b) during the Civil War, as well as professional criminals such as Alexander Reintop (nickname Sashka-Pan) and Mikhail Lisenkov (nickname Mishka-Clumsy).

In the 20s there was not a person in Petrograd who had not heard of Lenka Panteleev, nicknamed Fartovy. The whole of Petrograd was talking about Panteleev’s gang. When carrying out raids, Lenka first shot in the air, and then always called out his name. This was a psychological move - the bandits created authority for themselves, and at the same time suppressed the will of their victims, their ability to resist. Moreover, the raiders took only rich Nepmen to the “gop-stop”, without touching ordinary people. Moreover, Panteleev personally allocated small amounts of money to some nice ragamuffins and street children.

The security officers did not yet shine with professionalism, so Lenka became more and more impudent with each successful case...

At first, Panteleev maintained a certain romantic aura around his person, even avoided murders, dressed well and was emphatically polite to the ladies. They talked about him as a “noble robber” who robbed only the rich, but then Fartovy became brutal, and his gang began not only to rob, but also to kill.

The gang acted with humor, audacity and ingenuity. In one of the robberies, Panteleev purchased a leather jacket and cap at a flea market and passed himself off as a GPU employee. Using forged warrants, the gang searched and requisitioned valuables from Nepmen Anikeev and Ishchens.
The next time, when robbing Dr. Levin's apartment, the raiders were dressed in the uniform of Baltic sailors.

After each raid, Lenka Panteleev used to leave his business card in the hallway of the robbed apartment, elegantly printed on chalk cardboard, with a laconic inscription: “Leonid Panteleev is a free artist-robber.” On the back of his business card, he often gave various parting words to the security officers; for example, on one he wrote: “
To the employees of the criminal investigation department with friendly greetings. Leonid ".

After particularly successful raids, Lenka liked to transfer small amounts of money by mail to the university, the Technological Institute and other universities. " Enclosing one hundred chervonets, I ask you to distribute them among the most needy students. With respect to science, Leonid Panteleev".
According to one of the legends he had several doubles. When the GPU arrested one of them, he raided the department and, having killed everyone, freed his double.

During one of the raids on the Kozhtrest store, he was ambushed and arrested. He was stunned and therefore taken alive.

Nevsky Prospekt, house 20. It was here in September 1922 that the Kozhtrest store was located, where the police detained Panteleev. The lower corner room on the first floor is on the right. (now the House of Military Books).

Under heavy security, the raiders were taken to the 1st correctional home - now the Kresty pre-trial detention center.
The GPU was afraid of an attack even on the Crosses! The guards were strengthened, the sentries on the towers were armed with Colt or Lewis light machine guns.

Once in the dock, Panteleev behaved confidently and even brazenly. He recited the poems of Sergei Yesenin by heart and even managed to have a “platonic” affair with his lawyer’s fiancée, who regularly attended the trial. In general, he made the most favorable impression on the audience.

Lenka answered the prosecutor’s questions boldly and finally said: “Citizens judges, why all this farce? I’ll run away soon anyway.”

And indeed, on the night of November 10-11, Leonid Panteleev and three accomplices escaped from the strictly guarded Kresta prison. An officer from the Cheka helped him escape. He pointed out to the arrested a weak spot on the outer wall, which was not far from the bathhouse adjacent to Komsomol Street. There was firewood piled against the wall. Winter was approaching, and the prison was still heated in the old fashioned way - with stoves. The stack made it easy to climb onto the wall.

According to some reports, Panteleev actually planned to raise an armed uprising in “Kresty” on November 7. He intended to open the fireproof cabinet of the Ispravdom office, seize several rifles, a light machine gun, kill the guards and organize a mass escape. But the criminals refused to get involved “in politics.” Then the disappointed Panteleev turned back and decided to flee only with his gang.

The werewolf released Lenka and his accomplices from the cells, and then cut off the power to the building. The prisoners strangled the guard, Lenka changed into the uniform overcoat of the murdered warden, put on his cap, put the revolver in his holster, and began to pose as a guard. The entire group managed to calmly get out of the building, run across the narrow prison yard, and climbing onto the stack of firewood and descending to freedom using the prepared ropes was already a matter of technique.

A car was waiting for the fugitives in a nearby alley. The guards on the tower did not notice anything, it was raining heavily with snow, and the spotlight (randomly) was shining in the other direction.
Mikhail Lisenkov and Alexander Reintop (right) - gang members who escaped from prison along with Panteleev.

In the entire more than hundred-year history of the prison, only Panteleev’s gang managed to make a successful group escape from Kresty. The head of the prison and his deputy were removed from office after the escape, and in 1937 they were shot for negligence.

In the famous television series "Born of the Revolution" it is stated that Panteleev was shot dead in the hall of the Donon restaurant. But this is the creative invention of the director and screenwriter. In fact, events unfolded differently and Lenka’s criminal path was much longer.

Panteleev actually celebrated his escape from Kresty at the Donon restaurant. on the Fontanka embankment.

There he quarreled with the Nepmen. The metro d'hotel quietly called the GPU. In the shootout that ensued with the security officers, several gang members were killed, but Lenka, wounded in the arm, was still able to escape. And this despite the fact that they followed the trail with dogs and mounted police were brought in.

After being wounded, Lenka became more careful. He feared betrayal and put together a new gang, even stronger than the old one. He had more than thirty new safe shelters in different areas of the city. And the police lost the trail. And the gang committed new daring crimes. In the last month of his freedom alone, the gang committed 10 murders, 15 raids, and 20 street robberies. But these are approximate figures; no one knows the exact statistics.

The raid on the apartment of engineer Romanchenko also turned out to be bloody. Having burst into the hallway, the bandits killed the owner and his wife with knives, shot the dog that rushed at them with a point-blank shot, and took away everything valuable.

One day Panteleev felt he was being followed. The young sailor followed him for two blocks without turning. Lenka turned the corner, took out his Mauser, and when the “tail” appeared, he shot him. But I was mistaken - the sailor did not serve in the criminal investigation department, but was simply going home on leave.

Panteleev was elusive, there were strong suspicions that he had his own people in the Cheka who helped him escape from ambushes. But constant tension turned Panteleev into a neurasthenic, shooting without warning at anyone who aroused the slightest suspicion in him; even his closest accomplices began to fear him.

At the same time, Lenka continued to terrorize the Nepmen. He decided to "take over" the night! He wanted even the police to be afraid to go out into the streets at night and unleashed terror against the security officers, forcing other city gangs to take up this idea. Bandits of Lenka's gang attacked policemen from ambushes and several times entered into a shootout even with large patrols of mounted police. Residents could not help but hear gunfire at night and the city was on the verge of panic.
Mocking inscriptions appeared on the streets of Petrograd: “Before 10 pm the fur coat is yours, and after 10 it’s ours!”, the author of which was considered Pateleyev.

The police were on their ears. The boosts didn't help. One night, twenty ambushes were set up in places where he might appear, but in vain! They pressed mercilessly from above! They demanded that the gang be liquidated immediately and by any means necessary!

The photo shows documents being checked by Cheka officers.

Finally, luck smiled on the security officers. Through intelligence channels they received information that a “gangway” would take place on Ligovka, at which Panteleev was supposed to be present. The operation to capture him was carefully planned. At the last moment, one of the security officers found out that Panteleev’s friend had a mistress living on Mozhaiskaya Street, and just in case, an ambush was sent to her. But since Panteleev was expected at Ligovka, Mozhaiskaya was sent to the youngest employee, just a boy, Ivan Brusko with two Red Army soldiers.

The lucky Panteleev ignored the gangway and showed up at Mozhaiskaya, but then his luck suddenly changed.

Mozhaiskaya street, house 38. It was here, on the second floor, that there was an apartment in which (on the night of March 12 to 13, 1923) an ambush was organized on Lenka Panteleev.

Panteleev did not expect an ambush, and the police did not expect his appearance either. The more experienced Lenka Panteleev was the first to come to his senses. He stepped forward sharply and said in a stern but calm voice:

What's the matter, comrades, who are you waiting for here?

The security officers could not clearly see the faces of those who entered. And they should have been killed, but fate again brought a surprise - Fortune turned away from Lenka. While pulling out a pistol from his pocket, Panteleev accidentally caught the trigger in his pocket... an involuntary shot rang out. And then the operatives came to their senses and opened fire. They shot almost point blank. Panteleev, shot through the head, collapsed dead on the floor. Lisenkov, wounded in the neck, tried to escape, but was detained.

Already in the morning, the Petrograd newspapers wrote: “On the night of February 12-13, a strike group for the fight against banditry at the provincial department of the GPU with the participation of the criminal investigation department, after a long search, caught a famous bandit, who has recently become famous for his brutal murders and raids, Leonid Pantelkin, according to nickname “Lenka Panteleev.” During his arrest, Lenka offered desperate armed resistance, during which he was KILLED.”

Strangely, the newspaper headline did not write about the liquidation, but about the detention of Panteleev. The fact that he was killed was only stated in the text.

The city did not believe that Lenka Panteleev was killed. Perhaps the police themselves did not believe much, especially since robberies and murders continued under his name. And then the authorities had to take an unprecedented step - to put his corpse on public display. The corpse (like Lenin) was displayed in the morgue of the Obukhov hospital.

Thousands of Petrograd residents came to see the legendary raider. But those who knew him personally were sure that this was not his corpse.

The arrested 17 people from Panteleev’s gang were hastily shot on March 6, 1923, virtually without trial or investigation. The case of Lenka Panteleev’s gang was closed. But the rush made people whisper that the authorities were trying to quickly close the “case” and were carefully hiding something.

The corpse on display indirectly testified to his death. Like, if Lenka had been alive, he would have even recaptured his own corpse. But many still did not believe in his death. There were rumors that Lenka went to Estonia (where he was going), and his double was shot, but it is no longer possible to verify this.

The looted treasures of Lenka Panteleev (the common fund of his gang) have not yet been found. They say that Lenka also appeared in the entrance to the Rotunda on Gorokhovaya.

He had one of the apartments on the 1st floor in the entrance to the Rotunda, where he hid from the Cheka. They say Lenka used the basement of the building as a portal and could miraculously move to another place in Petrograd. Allegedly, there were even numerous witnesses to such transfers. So he escaped surveillance and the Cheka. In Soviet times, people searched for his jewelry and gold coins on Gorokhovaya (he did not recognize paper money). It was assumed that he hid his treasures in this very place (now the entrance to the basement from the entrance is walled up). Of course, they looked for them carefully, but alas... Lenka Panteleev hid everything securely, and a very serious amount was stolen, even by today's standards. However, perhaps Lenka himself took the money and jewelry... and far from THAT world.

It was after the destruction of Lenka Panteleev that Petrograd was renamed Leningrad))) an era passed... albeit a coincidence, but significant.

The fate of the young security officer Ivan Busko also developed in a strange way., who shot Lenka in an ambush on Mozhaiskaya Street (on the left in the photo).

Instead of receiving a well-deserved reward and promotion, Busko was demoted to Sakhalin Island (!) and appointed assistant chief of the border outpost. There he remained until June 1941. During the Great Patriotic War, Busko served in SMERSH, retired from the police with the modest rank of lieutenant colonel, and returned to Leningrad only in 1956. He lived very modestly, categorically refusing to communicate with journalists and any public appearances. Busko died in 1994, in complete obscurity.

They treated S. Kondratiev in much the same way- head of the special operational group of the Petrograd GPU, which was hunting for Panteleev’s gang. By the way, it was his biography that served as the basis for the script of the film “Born of the Revolution”, with only one significant amendment - after the Panteleev “case” they also began to persecute him in his career.

S. Kondratyev was transferred from Leningrad to Petrozavodsk (and not at all to Moscow), where he headed the local criminal investigation department for a long time and lived after retirement.

Subsequently he the wife claimed that Lenka Panteleev came to their home several times in the spring and summer of 1922(!), and had some conversations with her husband. The security officer who led his search!

S. Kondratyev, head of the GPU operational group, who led the search for L. Panteleev

Another mystery is the fate of the other four security officers who were part of the special group: Sushenkov, Shershevsky, Davydov and Dmitriev. They, in fact, caught the legendary raider; their signatures appear on the protocol for examining the body of the murdered L. Panteleev. All of them were soon dismissed from the “authorities” under various pretexts, and their names are not mentioned even in serious historical and scientific literature. Including in such a reputable publication as “Chekists of Petrograd” (1987 edition).

Another interesting fact is that in the early 20s there were many gangs operating in Petrograd. But the most popular then, of all those published in the city, "Red Newspaper" from issue to issue depicted the adventures of only one gang of Panteleev. The party newspaper could do this only on instructions from above - in other words, The St. Petersburg city leadership intensively “promoted” Lenka, for some reason making him a criminal “star”.

St. Petersburg was then led by Zinoviev, who really wanted to prove to Lenin that the NEP was wrong and predicted great popular unrest. Perhaps it was beneficial for him to plunge the city into fear of crime and thereby cause popular unrest. He almost succeeded.

There were even rumors that Lenka, having completed a special task from the authorities to destroy some Nemans, returned to serve in the authorities. They said that he was seen several times in the corridors of the Big House, in the uniform of a GPU employee.

And for a long time there was a legend around St. Petersburg that Panteleev’s head preserved in alcohol is kept in the museum on Liteiny, 4. And this turned out to be true, although it is no longer possible to recognize Lenka in it.

Not long ago, this “exhibit” was accidentally discovered at the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg State University...

Info and photos (C) different places on the Internet. Some material is published for the first time.

Raider No. 1 Lenka Panteleev

In the early 20s of the 20th century, the name of the bandit Lenka Panteleev was known to everyone. Much water has passed under the bridge since then, but who the storm of St. Petersburg really was - a criminal or a security officer - still remains a mystery

Gangster Petersburg
Usually after every war there is a crime wave. This is understandable: there are too many weapons in the hands of the population, the habit of violence is too strong. However, after the revolution of 1917 and the civil war, the crime situation in Soviet Russia completely got out of control. Robberies, murders, and robberies were common occurrences, almost commonplace. Especially in Petrograd, where at the beginning of 1922 the star of the raider Lenka Panteleev rose.

Fartovy is not in favor with the GPU
However, at first the name and surname of the criminal did not appear in the robbery case. Only the nickname was known - Fartovy. And who was hiding behind it, the local Pinkertons cared little. After all, showing high class consciousness, Fartovoy’s gang robbed only Nepmen and categorically did not touch socialist property. And the scope of the bandits’ violent activity did not exceed the general trend.
The situation changed after the intervention of the GPU.
One day, Fartovoy’s carefully planned “projects” gave the security officers the unexpected idea that one of the police officers was helping the criminals, and in order to dispel the doubts that had arisen, they decided to help their colleagues from the UGRO (criminal investigation department) in searching for the previously elusive Fartovoy.

UGRO is on the trail
Since the Cheka is not sleeping, things went more cheerfully. Soon the first results appeared.
After interviewing the victims, Pavel Barzai (a third-generation detective who made a name in the criminal investigation department even before the revolution and for this was allowed by the new government to engage in operational activities) compiled a verbal portrait of Fartovoy.
In St. Petersburg, “Operation Interception” immediately began. The police seized and dragged into government houses all passers-by who more or less matched the description. Dens and raspberries were gutted with enviable regularity by sailors - the “mask shows” of that time.
By the way, ninety years ago, as now, in order to force “legal” criminals to help the authorities find “illegal” ones, security forces carried out massive checks, searches and raids, preventing criminals from working fruitfully and having a good rest
As a result, tired of the excessive attention of the security forces, the secret police brought a certain citizen to Barzai, who told the authorities that he had seen Fartovoy before and that the bandit seemed to be working then in... the transport Cheka.

Yes, security officer!
Soon the detective knew everything about Fartovoy.
Leonid Panteleev (real name Pantelkin) was born in 1902 in the city of Tikhvin, a printer-compositor by profession, served in the Red Army, ended the civil war as a machine-gun platoon commander. Since July 1921 - employee of the transport Cheka. In January 1922, he was dismissed from staff reduction agencies.
Barzai also found out the composition of the gang. Quite varied, by the way. Among the professional criminals, it included another ex-chekist, a colleague of Panteleev, and even a former battalion commissar.

With friendly greetings
The UGRO information immediately appeared in the newspapers: “Fartovoy’s secret has been revealed,” screamed the headlines. But this was a clear exaggeration. Both the detectives and the criminal understood this, who now, as if in mockery, began to introduce himself to his victims. Moreover, Panteleev kept a business card elegantly printed on chalk cardboard with the inscription: “Leonid Panteleev is a free robber artist” and on the back he invariably left a few pleasant words for his opponents, like: “Friendly greetings to the employees of the criminal investigation department. Leonid."

A la Robin Hood
Time passed, the number of Panteleev’s “exploits” grew, and the police and security officers kept trailing behind the events. Meanwhile, the matter was taking a political turn.
Newspapers and rumors in the spring of 1922 turned the “knight of the Ligov panel”, “robber-gentleman”, “thunderstorm of NEP” into a folk hero. And not in vain! Panteleev continued to attack only the rich, did not touch ordinary people, and even sent small transfers for charitable purposes to universities and other institutions requiring care. Notes: “Enclosing one hundred ducats, I ask you to distribute them among the most needy students. With respect for the sciences, Leonid Panteleev,” immediately became the subject of wide discussion. And somewhere even admiration!
Lenka was popular even among his colleagues. He was brave, daring and creative. It was at his instigation that the “gop-stop” method – an armed invasion of apartments – came into criminal use.

Keeping order
The greater the fame that surrounded Panteleev, the more furiously the GPU and UGRO searched for the bandit. A special team was created under the leadership of the best St. Petersburg investigator, Sergei Kondratyev (he uncovered 33 gangs). However, chance helped the detectives.
One day, a UGRO employee was driving to work and on the tram noticed two young men with very cheeky behavior. In one he identified Lenka Panteleev and tried to detain him. Lenka rushed to run, began to shoot back and killed the head of the State Bank security. He just went outside, saw the chase and tried to help...
After this, Panteleev became the blood enemy of all St. Petersburg cops. He found himself outside the law and knew for sure: if necessary, they would shoot at him to kill. Fortunately, shortly before that, a new decree of the Motherland was issued calling for tougher measures to combat crime.
Panteleev’s next meeting with the security forces took place three months after the incident on the tram. And again chance played a role. The raiders and the police clashed in a shoe store. A shootout ensued, during which Pavel Bardzai died, and Lenka Panteleev and his comrades went to jail.

Government House
Panteleev willingly told investigators about himself.
From the age of eighteen he served in the Cheka, he conducted inquiries himself, he liked the work, but did not satisfy him financially. The resentment against the Nepmen weighed heavily. They enjoyed life. And he, the combat commander of the Red Army, was forced to count pennies.
Panteleev explained his collusion with the criminal element and assistance in organizing various shady affairs by chronic lack of money. However, Panteleev was not a “werewolf in uniform” for long. Quite quickly he was exposed, put in prison, and then for some reason, unlike usual, he was not shot, but released in peace, having previously been dismissed from the authorities.
But not for pig feed. Panteleev was not filled with gratitude for the mercy shown, but, on the contrary, harbored a new grudge. She pushed the former security officer first onto the criminal path, and then brought him alone to Kresty.

The escape
By the way, in the 20th century there were only five escapes from the famous St. Petersburg prison. The first one was organized by Lenka Panteleev.
Even at the trial, he said: “Citizens of judges, why all this farce? I’ll run away soon anyway.” And indeed, on a November night the raider left the walls of the Crosses. And not alone, but in the company of accomplices.
The overseer who helped organize this unprecedented “event” was promised a huge sum. However, the gang “for some reason forgot” to pay their accomplice.

Luck of Fartovoy
But the rumor remembered everything and kept records of everything.
After the escape, and especially after the incident in the Donon restaurant, Lenka Panteleev was already considered not just Fartov, but a real darling of fate.
That evening Panteleev walked in one of the best establishments in the city, the chic Donon. The table was laden with drinks and food. Money flowed like a river. But what's a holiday without a fight? In search of thrills, the bandits started a showdown with one of the visitors. And when a police squad called by the administration entered the hall, they opened fire...
Next - a classic of the genre...
Bullets and ladies screamed, the orchestra and obscenities thundered with chords, drowning out the roar of shots, the clink of broken dishes and the groans of the wounded.
Lenka's hand was grazed - a trifle... The main thing is that he remained alive and literally miraculously escaped pursuit. As it turned out later, the criminal investigation agents walked two steps away from the place where the criminal was hiding, but did not notice Panteleev lying on the ground.

Hunted Beast
After Lenka Panteleev escaped, he stopped playing at being noble. He stupidly and mercilessly robbed and killed everyone who came to hand.
The matter was coming to a fatal conclusion. It was obvious. It was possible to escape by going beyond the cordon to Estonia. But this required money, a lot of money, and Lenka and the new gang (the old one mostly died in Donon) persistently collected “tribute” from the working people and merchants.
For three months Panteleev committed atrocities and committed outrages. In just one month: ten murders, fifteen raids, twenty street robberies. For three months Petrograd lived in panic. Wealthy people ordered ingenious locks and door chains. The poor were shaking for their lives. Lenka killed everyone in whom he saw prey, enemies, policemen, informers. And hunted, chronically drunk, under the influence of drugs, he saw a threat everywhere.

At the bottom
Meanwhile, the GPU and the UGRO were zealously digging the ground. The duel with the criminal, which the city watched with constant interest (people believed that all crimes in St. Petersburg were the work of the Panteleev gang), could and should have ended only in the victory of the young Soviet police.
In the meantime, we had to endure one defeat after another.
The gang split into small groups, “went to the bottom” and gathered only to carry out the next raid. Panteleev hid the loot somewhere, so it was impossible to reach him through buyers of stolen goods. The raider’s girlfriends were also silent, not betraying their friend.
It got to the point that Panteleev visited his main “opponent” Kondratiev, but not finding him at home, drank tea with his wife and... left. Showing “who’s boss”!

Fenita la comedy
February blizzards swirled over Petrograd...
And in places where Lenka Panteleev might appear, there were ambushes for days. Twenty grand!
Lenka ran into one of these ambushes on February 13, 1923.
He opened the apartment with his key, saw men in military uniform, was not taken aback, and said in a firm voice: “What’s the matter, comrades, who are you waiting for here?”
However, self-control did not help. The bandit didn’t even have time to get his weapon before he collapsed with a bullet through his head.
Soon the remaining members of the gang were detained and executed by court order: seventeen raiders and accomplices, five of them women.

Life after death
The official version of the destruction of Fartovoy’s gang did not calm the city. There were persistent rumors that Lenka managed to escape this time too, that he was alive and would have his say. Of course, there were enough people who wanted to cling to someone else’s loud fame. Here and there, while carrying out raids, the bandits called themselves, either Lenka Panteleev, or the names of his comrades-in-arms.
To put an end to this story, the authorities took extreme measures and put Panteleev’s body on public display. A crowd of thousands lined up at the morgue where the “show” took place. It seemed that the whole city had gathered to look at the famous bandit.
But time passed, the excitement subsided, and the multimillion-dollar northern ex-capital forgot its hero-villain.

Question and answer time
But researchers still remember those ancient events and are still surprised by their absurdities.
Firstly, it is not at all clear why the young investigator Panteleev, who was arrested for abuses, was not shot, but ended up free?
Secondly, it is not clear why, when carrying out raids, Panteleev introduced himself using his own name, helping the investigation and exposing his relatives to attack?
Thirdly, why does a bandit need class tricks? Why did Lenka so stubbornly rob only the Nepmen and not attack government offices?
Fourthly, how did he escape from the impregnable Crosses?
One version provides answers to these and other questions.
Lenka Panteleev could be a “mole” embedded in the criminal world of St. Petersburg. However, one can only guess about the purpose of his mission. For example, Panteleev could rob the general trading community for the sake of replenishing the state treasury or for the sake of intimidating/demoralizing the growing Nepman stratum. You should not miss such moments: Lenka’s fame could lead him to the top of the criminal diocese.

Guessing Game
However, with the same success, Panteleev’s fame helped his opponent, the young Soviet police, to establish themselves.
Judge for yourself: a gang begins to “work” in the city, and it is by no means the most numerous and bloodthirsty. However, the close attention of the GPU and the press was focused on her, although there were probably plenty of other gangs in northern Palmyra.
The next moment: the very first (accidental!) meeting of a law enforcement officer with Lenka ended in an accidental (!) murder. Moreover, the head of the State Bank security. Then, naturally, again, by coincidence, after the first “wet” case of Panteleev, an order appeared allowing the security forces to tighten the methods used and shoot the raiders and bandits right at the scene of the crime without trial or investigation.
Further - in the same spirit...
Panteleev’s accomplices noted: he never had great values. Meanwhile, they had to take place.
However, even here some people have certain doubts. At the trial, state prosecutor Kristin said that Panteleev was unlucky, he was deceived, he had to pay bribes for his release... in general, the famous raider was naive, like a high school student, and practically poor.
It is also surprising that Panteleev’s relatives and friends never identified the corpse. The absence of an order number and a specific date of dismissal from the Cheka in Panteleev’s documents is confusing. After all, despite the rebellious times, the office conducted its affairs very carefully.
And in general, somehow for too long two such serious organizations as the GPU and the UGRO fought with a twenty-year-old boy, an amateur bandit Lenka Panteleev. But then, having received the go-ahead to shoot the bandits, they very quickly restored order in St. Petersburg and the country...

Based on materials from Wikipedia (www.ru.wikipedia.org), “People” (www.peoples.ru)

Leonid Ivanovich Pantyolkin, better known as Lyonka Panteleev. He was the coolest St. Petersburg bandit of the mid-20s. In the long history of the criminal world of St. Petersburg - Petrograd - Leningrad, there is no more famous character than Lenka Panteleev. We can safely say that the bandit Lenka has become a kind of St. Petersburg legend. He was so elusive and successful that he was even credited with mysticism...

On February 13, 1923, Lyonka Panteleev, one of the most famous and daring Petrograd raiders, died in a shootout with security officers.

By the age of 20, he managed to take part in revolutionary events, fight in the Red Army with Yudenich’s troops and even serve in the Cheka. And he recruited several former security officers and commissars into his gang.

Although his gang operated only for about a year, rumors circulated throughout Petrograd that Lyonka was elusive, and his name became as famous in Petrograd as Lenin’s.

Exemplary citizen

Leonid Pantyolkin was born in the Novgorod province in 1902. He took the surname Panteleev, by which he became known thanks to his criminal business, later, probably because of its greater euphony.

After studying in elementary school and taking special courses, Panteleev received the profession of a typesetter in a printing house. In those days, printing workers received good money. Some sources report that Panteleev took part in the storming of the Winter Palace in October 1917, and he himself is called a revolutionary sailor.

However, at that time he was 15 years old, he was unlikely to be a sailor, but he could participate in revolutionary events. They didn't ask about age then.
It is known that in 1919, 17-year-old Panteleev volunteered to join the Red Army and took part in hostilities against Yudenich, who was advancing on Petrograd, as the commander of a machine-gun platoon. According to some reports, Panteleev was even captured, but later he was either able to escape or was released.

In 1921, the then huge Red Army was demobilized. After this, Panteleev comes to the Cheka. He had an almost exemplary biography - he was accepted into the service without any problems. So Panteleev, who had barely reached adulthood, became an investigator of the road transport commission of the Cheka of the North-Western Railways.

Leonid Panteleev is a current employee of the Cheka (standing fourth from the right).

True, his service was short-lived. Just three months later he is demoted and sent as a controller agent to Pskov. And in January 1922, just six months after the start of his service, Panteleev was fired from the authorities.

The reason for the dismissal remained unknown, due to which later various versions arose, including the most dubious: allegedly Panteleev was introduced into a criminal environment. In fact, Panteleev was suspected of complicity in the raid, but there was little evidence.

The time spent in the Cheka was not in vain: there he managed to find an associate. One of the first members of Panteleev’s gang was his former Cheka colleague Leonid Bass. In addition, the former commissar of one of the units of the Red Army, Varshulevich, joined the gang, and Panteleev’s closest associate, “adjutant,” was party member Gavrikov.

However, the gang included not only former security officers and commissars, but also two professional criminals: Reintop and Lisenkov.

Dashing gang

But the revolution in those years took place not only in the political, but also in the criminal world. Old traditions were becoming a thing of the past. For example, the most famous Moscow raider Yasha Koshelkov, who once robbed Lenin himself, was a pickpocket before the revolution.

The task of the raiders was made easier by the security officers, who carried out searches every night; in such an atmosphere, it cost them nothing, posing as security officers, to enter houses and rob them.

In 1922–1923 there was a second wave of raiders. Now most of them were no longer professional criminals, but soldiers demobilized from the army who had previously had no problems with the law.

Accustomed to unpunished violence in war and during the suppression of peasant uprisings, they already had difficulty fitting into a peaceful society. In addition, many were disappointed by the NEP that had begun, which the most radical of the ideological communists viewed as a betrayal of the revolution and the restoration of capitalism.

The raiders acted boldly and without fear of anything, often trailing behind them a long trail of bloody crimes. They terrorized the cities and became a headache for the criminal investigation department and the Cheka.

In March 1922, Panteleev's gang committed their first crime. A raid was carried out on the apartment of furrier Bogachev. Threatening the owners with weapons, the bandits searched the apartment and took away several fur items.

However, Panteleev himself was first of all dissatisfied, considering the production insignificant. Therefore, after two weeks, they carried out a raid on the apartment of Dr. Griliches using the same scheme. But even in this case, it was not possible to get hold of money.

After the first failures, Panteleev fell into depression and did not go to work for three months. The craft of a raider turned out to be not as profitable as he expected. Meanwhile, there were many witnesses who remembered him well and described him to the police, and Panteleev was included in the police's wanted list.

The police began searching for Panteleev, methodically detaining and interrogating his numerous cohabitants. The handsome and young Panteleev had many mistresses, whom he used as spotters, preferring women to all others, since he believed that a woman in love would never betray him to the police.

The shootout gave the depressed Panteleev additional impetus, and he intensified his activities. The gang raided Dr. Levin's apartment, where they got there under the guise of sailors who came with health complaints. The owners of the apartment were tied up and almost all their belongings were taken out of it.

A few days later, Panteleev’s gang, under the guise of security officers who came with a search, robbed the jeweler Anikeev. At the same time, the bandits played their role so well that they complied with all the necessary formalities with documents, but made mistakes on small things.

The search warrant was issued in the name of Alexei Timofeev, and one of the bandits inadvertently signed his name as Nikolai Timofeev. This fact alerted the owner of the apartment - after the bandits left, he turned to the Cheka for clarification and learned that no search had been carried out or planned.

Panteleev began to change his work pattern, most of the raids brought mere pennies, he stopped disdaining even banal street violence. Bandits began to go out to the Field of Mars at night and stop cabs carrying citizens who seemed wealthy to Panteleev.

There were rumors about Panteleev that he only robbed Nepmen and did not touch proletarians, but in fact he didn’t care, the main thing was that the victim had some valuables with him.