He was appointed to dismantle the KGB, but he was unable to control this organization and to fulfill the task[4] due to political reasons.

He graduated from the Novosibirsk Civil Engineering Institute and the Academy of Social Sciences under the CPSU Central Committee.

[9] In 1991, Vadim Bakatin as Chief of the KGB revealed to the U.S. ambassador Robert Schwarz Strauss to the Soviet Union the methods that had been used to install covert listening devices in the building that had been intended to replace Spaso House as the American embassy in Moscow.

Bakatin's action was met with harsh criticism, including allegations of treason[10] which were eventually retracted.

Vadim Bakatin, his grandson, (born 24 June 1998) was an international football player and played for AS Monaco FC at youth level.