Originally a sergeant of the Nizhny Novgorod Dragoon Regiment in the Imperial Russian Army, he deserted and became one of the many defectors who changed sides in the era of the Russo-Persian Wars.

[2] Iran's then commander-in-chief, crown-prince Abbas Mirza, was eager to acquire and retain the services of as many Russian deserters as possible, because their military training was a useful asset to his new regular army.

"[5][4] The reference to Makantsov as being of the "soldier's children" (soldatskie deti) meant that he was in fact part of a juridically defined social category stipulated in the Imperial Russian Petrine ranking system.

[2] After fleeing the regiment in 1802, then 22 years old,[4] he gave himself up to the Iranians, entered Abbas Mirza's service, and was appointed a lieutenant in one of the new Nezam-e-Jadid (lit.

[7] Seemingly having noticed Abbas Mirza's approval, the Russians expressed their dissatisfaction with the regiment's Iranian commander and to ask that he be replaced by Makintsev.

[7] Makintsev quickly gained the complete confidence of Abbas Mirza, who gave the Russians the name Bahadoran (heroes) and used them to constitute his palace guard.

[7] The most reliable element in the Nezam-e-Jadid, they were better trained and more regularly paid than the native troops, and the king (Fath Ali Shah Qajar), and Abbas Mirza in particular, relied on them to suppress domestic rebellions.

[7] Not waiting for deserters to arrive in Tabriz of their own accord, he made every effort to encourage the flight of soldiers in the Russian army then occupying the Iranian territory that is modern-day Azerbaijan.

[7] He employed a range of methods, including "enticements, money and cunning", and he organized schemes to encourage troops to desert their Russian units.

[7] Cronin notes that as time passed, the sons of deserter-troops who had married in Iran were, in a continuation of the Russian practice, also enlisted into the regiment.

[7] Some decided to settle permanently in Iran, integrating into local society, their habitual drunkenness apparently presenting no impediment to social acceptance.

[9] Makintsev inhabited a large house in the Tabriz arg (citadel), having made an extremely advantageous marriage to the daughter of the exiled Prince Alexander of Georgia who was living in Iran proper as well.

[9] By the time of the 1826–1828 war, the deserters had developed qualms, and Makintsev tried to avoid a direct confrontation in the fighting, declaring that the "Russians had sworn on the Holy Gospel that they would not fire on fellow Christians".