Bakunin was born on 2 March 1898 in the village of Staroye Ilmovo in Kazan Governorate, the son of a worker. He worked as a coal miner before being drafted into Imperial Russian Army as a private in February 1917. Sent to the Semyonovsky Life Guard Regiment, Bakunin became an "unter-ofitser" and participated in the February and October Revolutions before being demobilized in October. In April 1918 he joined the Red Guards and in December 1919 the Red Army. He became a platoon commander in the Tomsk Red Guard unit in April 1918. In August, Bakunin became a battalion commander in the partisan detachment led by V.P. Shevelev. Bakunin fought on the Eastern Front against the White Army led by Alexander Kolchak in the Kuznetsky District, Marinsk, and Kemerovo. In December 1919 Bakunin entered the 2nd Siberian Infantry Courses at Tomsk. After graduating, in July 1921 he became a platoon commander at the 25th Infantry School of the Siberian Military District.