Leonid Golikov

Golikov was a brigadier-scout of the 67th detachment of the Fourth Leningrad Partisan Brigade that operated in the Novgorod and Pskov regions. He participated in 27 military operations and distinguished himself in the takeover of German garrisons in the villages of Aprosovo, Sosnitsa, and North.

For a long time, it was believed that Golikov's photographs did not survive and that his sister, Lida, posed for the portrait created by Viktor Fomin in 1958. Golikov's original photo was found afterwards.

Essayist Anatoly Vakhov wrote about Golikov's accomplishments. During the Great Patriotic War, his first book of essays on partisans, Nine Fearless (Девять бесстрашных) (1944), was published. Vakhov's book contains a photograph of Golikov on page 61, taken behind enemy lines by a LenTASS correspondent, as evidenced by a stamp in the lower right corner. As G. Svetlov, a former political instructor of the reconnaissance company of the 3rd Leningrad Partisan Brigade, said,

Golikov died in battle on January 24, 1943, in the village of Ostray Luka, Pskov Oblast. He was included in the list of pioneer heroes, though he was 15 years old at the beginning of the war.

On 13 August 1942, Golikov returned from a reconnaissance mission along the Luga-Pskov highway near the village of Varnitsy in the Strugo-Krasnensky district, and reportedly tossed a grenade to blow up the car in which German Major General of the Engineering Troops Richard von Wirtz was travelling. The detachment commander's report indicated that in a firefight, Golikov shot the general, the officer, and driver. This report was disputed, as in 1943–1944, Wirtz commanded the 96th Infantry Division, and was captured in 1945 by American forces. The scout delivered a briefcase with documents to the brigade headquarters. Among them were drawings and descriptions of new samples of German mines, inspection reports to higher command, and other important military papers. Golikov was posthumously nominated for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Leonid Aleksandrovich Golikov (Russian: Леонид Александрович Голиков; (17 June 1926 – 24 January 1943) was a Soviet partisan during World War II who was posthumously recognized as a pioneer hero and received the Hero of the Soviet Union.

Golikov was born on 17 June 1926 in the village of Lukino, Starorusskiy uyezd, Novgorod Governorate (now Parfinsky District, Novgorod Oblast) to a working-class family. He graduated after seven years of school, and worked in a plywood factory in Parfino.