His maternal grandfather, Anatole Pavlovich Boudakovitch, was a Russian-Polish count and colonel in the Imperial Russian Army, who died in battle near Warsaw during World War I.
In the film The Eagle Has Landed, Michael Caine wears the uniform and insignia of a pulkownik while in secret being an oberst in the German Luftwaffe.
Ruslan Tagirovich Khuchbarov (November 12, 1972 – September 3, 2004), was an Ingush man presumed to be the Islamic militant nicknamed "Polkovnik" (the Russian for Colonel) notorious for his leading role in the 2004 Beslan school hostage crisis.