Lev Zadov

Lev Zadov
לעוו זאדאוו
Otaman of the Kontrrazvedka
In office March 1919 – August 1921
Personal details
Born	Levko Mykolaiovych Zadov (1893-04-11)11 April 1893 Veselaya Yevreyka, Yuzivka, Katerynoslav, Russian Empire
Died	25 September 1938(1938-09-25) (aged 45) Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Cause of death	Execution by firing squad
Resting place	Bykivnia, Darnytsia, Kyiv, Ukraine
Citizenship	Russian Empire (1893-1917) Stateless (1918-1925) Soviet Union (1925-1938)
Nationality	Ukrainian Jew
Spouse	Vera Matvienko
Children	Alla Zinkovskaya (b. 1921) Vadim Zinkovsky (b. 1926)
Relatives	Danylo Zadov (brother)
Occupation	Intelligence agent
Known for	Military intelligence, espionage
Nickname	Levko the Bandit
Military service
Allegiance	Ukrainian Soviet Republic (1918) Makhnovshchina (1918-1921) Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (1925-1937)
Service	Red Guards (1918) Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine (1918-1921) Joint State Political Directorate (1925-1934) People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (1934-1937)
Years of service	1918-1937
Rank	Commandant
Unit	1st Donetsk Corps
Battles/wars	Ukrainian War of Independence Donbas-Don operation Battle of Tsaritsyn Battle for the Donbas Battle of Peregonovka Northern Taurida Operation Siege of Perekop

Lev Mykolaiovych Zadov (Ukrainian: Лев Миколайович Задов; 1893–1938), also known by his nom de guerre Lev Zinkovskyi (Ukrainian: Лев Зіньковський), was chief of military intelligence of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine (RIAU) and later an operative of the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU).

After joining the Ukrainian anarchist movement, Zadov was arrested and imprisoned for a series of robberies he committed in Donbas. He was released during the February Revolution and returned to Donbas, where he became involved in the local Soviet and joined the Red Guards, which he fought with until November 1918, when he joined Nestor Makhno's Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine.

He became the de facto chief of the Kontrrazvedka, the Makhnovist military intelligence division, and carried out a campaign of terror against the Bolsheviks and the White movement. After the defeat of the Makhnovists, he retreated to Romania, before re-entering Ukraine in 1925 and joining the OGPU. He used his position to carry out subversive activities, for which he was arrested and executed during the Great Purge.