Today, the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Alexander Zakharchenko, announced that all those involved in the death of the battalion commander of the "Somalia" battalion Givi have been identified and partially detained. Zakharchenko also noted that these same people participated in the massacre of another leader of the Donbass rebels, the commander of the Sparta battalion Motorola.
Motorola and Givi - these call signs have become legendary among the Donbass rebels. The fighters might not be known by name, but it was enough to hear front-line pseudonyms, and it immediately became clear who they were talking about. Givi and Motorola proved themselves to be one of the most combative, desperate, but at the same time skillful and effective commanders Donetsk Republic. But war spares no one, and the bravest rarely live to see victory. These men voluntarily accepted their fate. Going to war Ukrainian nationalists, they probably well assessed the small chances of “returning from battle,” but the desire to protect the world and defend freedom turned out to be stronger than fear for a life.
The short, even puny Motorola did not in any way resemble a war hero. Arsen Pavlov arrived in Ukraine in February 2014. A native of Ukhta, an orphan, raised by his grandmother, he could not calmly observe the armed coup that was carried out by nationalist troops in Kyiv. Arsen took part in rallies against the coup, and when the Kyiv punitive forces moved to the east of Ukraine, he stood up and took up arms.
He himself explained the situation this way: " I took the train and arrived. Didn't get into it. The Russians are here, so I came. I’ve already said: as soon as Molotov cocktails were thrown at the police officers on the Maidan, it became clear to me - that’s it, this is war. After the Nazis declared that ten Russians would be killed for every one of their own, I saw no point in waiting for the threat to become a reality.".
The Sparta battalion appeared in August 2014. They say that Arsen chose the name, inspired by the plot of the game "Metro 2033". The unit took part in the defense of Slavyansk, in the battles for Ilovaisk and in the protracted siege and further successful assault on Donetsk airport in September-October 2014. Arsen himself commented on the numerous reports that appeared in the Ukrainian media about the death of Motorola with the words: “They are all lying.” Pavlov filmed his desperate forays behind enemy lines and victorious operations on a smartphone camera - hence his pseudonym Motorola.
Pavlov was wounded several times, in particular his arm and left eye. However, he healed his wounds and got back into action. At the end active phase conflict in Donbass, he remained to live in Donetsk. Got married. And he died returning home to the woman he loved. On October 16, 2016, when Pavlov was taking the elevator to his apartment, an explosive device attached to the elevator cable went off. Motorola died on the spot from his injuries. He was 33 years old.
In connection with the death of Arsen Pavlov, the DPR authorities declared three days of mourning. 50 thousand city residents took part in the battalion commander’s funeral.
After the death of his comrade, Givi promised that the killers would pay for this, but he himself outlived his friend by only a few months.
The dark, broad-shouldered Givi - Mikhail Tolstykh - outwardly showed complete opposite Pavlova. However, their goals were the same: not to give the land of Donbass to nationalists of all stripes. Moreover, the fight against the fascists was in Tolstoy’s blood: his Georgian grandfather fought with the Nazis on the fields of the Great Patriotic War. In honor of him, he took the pseudonym Tolstoy.
He was local resident, from Ukraine. He served in the Ukrainian army, was a tank commander, then worked as an industrial climber and a diesel forklift driver. And in the spring of 2014, the thirst for justice called to battle... He, like his friend Motorola, participated in battles with Ukrainian punitive forces for Slavyansk, Ilovaisk, and for the Donetsk airport.
There were attempts on his life twice - in 2015 and 2016. But then fate saved the fighter.
At the beginning of February 2017, he received a shrapnel wound to his leg in a military clash near Avdeevka. And a few days later he died in Makeyevka, on the territory of his military unit. The office in which Givi was located was fired from a Shmel flamethrower. According to other sources, a bomb was planted in the room, which right moment activated remotely.
36-year-old Mikhail Tolstoy was buried at the Donetsk Sea cemetery. According to official data, 55 thousand people came to say goodbye to him.
Today, the head of the Donetsk People's Republic, Alexander Zakharchenko, promised that the full investigation into the murders of Givi and Motorola will be completed this year.
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On the morning of February 8, the commander of the Somalia battalion, Mikhail Tolstykh, better known by his call sign Givi, was killed in the Donbass. The commander died as a result of a terrorist attack in his office. In the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), the Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group is blamed for everything. “360” tells what will be remembered famous commander militias.
Chief “Georgian” of the DPR
A native of Ilovaisk, a city in Donetsk region, became known shortly after the outbreak of hostilities in eastern Ukraine. The commander received the call sign Givi in the Ukrainian army because of his appearance - friends noted his similarity to natives of Georgia.
I am Russian, Givi is my call sign. Friends joked like that. He probably looks like a Georgian. There are no relatives in Georgia.
Givi decided to join the ranks of the militia almost immediately after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine. The commander himself stated, important factor such a decision was hostility towards Ukrainian politics.
I have never supported Ukrainian politics. Strong politicians For me there have always been Putin and Medvedev. Their politics and army always surprised me. I can honestly say that I was always proud of them.
Tolstykh and his unit took part in the battles for Slavyansk and Ilovaisk in the summer of 2014. Since September 2014, the Somalia battalion has participated in the battles for Donetsk airport.
Friendship with Motorola
It is known that Givi was friends with the famous DPR battalion commander Arseny Pavlov, better known as Motorola.
On October 16, 2016, unknown persons mined the elevator car in the residential building where Motorola lived and detonated it while the commander was inside. After the death of his friend, Givi promised to “raze cities to the ground” in revenge for the death of Motorola.
The DPR prosecutor's office stated that the attempt on Givi's life was organized by a sabotage and reconnaissance group that was involved in Pavlov's murder.
This terrorist attack and the earlier murder of Arseny Pavlov are links in the same chain. Behind the terrorist attacks are the Ukrainian special services, which are making efforts to destabilize the situation in the republic.
Accusations by the Ukrainian authorities
In September 2016 military prosecutor's office Ukraine submitted to the court an indictment against the Somalia commander. Investigators allegedly collected evidence based on which Givi was accused of participating in the war against Ukraine from May 2014 to January 2015.
The militia was accused of cruel treatment of captured Ukrainian military personnel, as well as of organizing terrorist attacks near the Donetsk airport, which killed nine people. Givi faced life imprisonment.
Photo from the scene of Givi's murder
How the commander of "Somalia" died
The explosion in which Givi was killed occurred in his office at the Somalia battalion base in Donetsk. The DPR Ministry of Defense stated that the commander died as a result of an attack from a Shmel infantry flamethrower. According to the DPR prosecutor's office, the assassination attempt on the Tolstoys was carried out by sabotage and reconnaissance groups. The department is confident that Ukrainian special services are behind them.
This is a continuation of the terrorist war started by the Ukrainian security forces against the residents of Donbass.
A few hours after Givi's murder law enforcement agencies The DPR stated that they were “hot on their heels” on the trail of the alleged perpetrators.
We know what kind of people they are. We will find them, and they will be punished to the fullest extent of the laws of war.
However, none of the murders of Donbass commanders were solved.
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On Wednesday morning on social networks and on the websites of the “Donetsk People’s Republic”, and soon on Russian feeds news agencies appeared about the death of Mikhail Tolstykh, “Givi” - one of the most famous commanders of pro-Russian separatists in the Donbass. Tolstykh died in Donetsk in an explosion in his office at the base of the Somalia battalion, of which he was the commander.
Along with Arseny Pavlov (“Motorola”), Tolstoy was one of the most media-promoted “heroes of the people’s republic.” His figure stood out even from the rest of the separatist military leaders: Givi was known for his cruel attitude towards captured Ukrainian soldiers and his own subordinates, who more than once complained about torture in the battalion entrusted to him. In Ukraine, criminal cases were opened against him under several articles at once: “Creation of a terrorist organization”, “Complicity in conducting aggressive war", "Complicity in violation of the laws and customs of war", "Illegal deprivation of liberty or kidnapping."
Representatives of the so-called “operational command of the DPR” stated that “Givi was killed from a rocket-propelled infantry grenade launcher “Shmel”. According to this version, an unknown person fired from a grenade launcher into the window of Tolstykh’s office at the base of the “Somali” battalion, which is located on the outskirts of Donetsk, in the microdistrict Ganzovka (formally Ganzovka is part of Makeyevka, neighboring Donetsk). According to another version, an explosive device was planted in Givi’s office in advance. After the explosion, a fire started in the building, engulfing several floors.
Representatives of the “DPR Army” called the incident a terrorist attack and “a continuation of the terrorist war launched by the Kyiv authorities against the residents of Donbass.” The “MGB of the DPR” talks about the involvement of “Ukrainian special services” in Givi’s death. The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine confirmed the death of Mikhail Tolstykh, noting his involvement in “abuse of captured Ukrainian military personnel” and “other war crimes.” At the unofficial level, in particular in the Ukrainian and Russian segment social networks, the dominant version is about the ongoing elimination of “DPR” commanders Russian intelligence services. Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov has already stated that “there can be no question of Russia’s possible involvement in this.”
Tolstykh-Givi became the fifth known commander of pro-Russian separatists in the Donbass to die over the past six months. On February 4, in Lugansk, the car of the head of the "People's Militia of the LPR" Oleg Anashchenko. January 27 in Moscow suddenly former head"LPR" Valery Bolotov, who participated in the seizure of the SBU building in Lugansk in April 2014. On October 16, 2016, in the elevator of his building, the commander of the Sparta battalion Arseny Pavlov, better known as Motorola. September 19 in Gorki near Moscow Evgeniy Zhilin- one of the leaders of the separatist movement in Kharkov.
Tolstykh-Givi was 36 years old. He was born in Ilovaisk, very close to Donetsk. Explaining the origin of his call sign - "Givi", he said that his great-grandfather was Georgian. In the late 90s he served in the Ukrainian army, then worked as an industrial climber and a forklift driver at a factory.
In the history of the “Russian Spring” in Donbass, Givi first appeared in May 2014, as one of the main assistants Igor Strelkov during the assault on Slavyansk. Participated in battles with the Ukrainian military near Ilovaisk, at the Donetsk airport. In recent weeks, as separatist websites reported, he participated in and was even wounded.
Givi's media fame came to him suddenly, but was soon spoiled by reports of cruel treatment of prisoners of war and authoritarian habits in the Somalia battalion, in which even the most persistent fighters allegedly complained about the unbearable conditions of service.
Ukrainian journalist Pavel Kazarin believes that Givi’s main role in the Novorossiya project was to create the image of a Ukrainian who voluntarily went over to the side of the “people’s republic.” Kazarin notes that after the death of Givi-Tolstoy, the last living of the well-known separatist commanders will be Alexander Khodakovsky:
– It seems to me that when the process of invasion of Donbass began, Russian curators set themselves the task, among other things, of creating some public figures, who were then promoted as the faces of these quasi-state entities. Perhaps it was an excess of the performer: some Russian journalists they simply “exposed” Mikhail Tolstykh, who was known under the nickname Givi, on air, and then other media began to pay attention to him. Perhaps the promotion was deliberate. Ultimately, the militants had two key persons - Mikhail Tolstykh, nicknamed Givi, and Arsen Pavlov, nicknamed Motorola. They were like “Petka orderlies” under “Chapai” Strelkov. There is Strelkov, relatively speaking, a kind of Chapaev, Borodai is a kind of Furmanov, and with them there is Petka, aka Motorola, aka Givi. Such a stage analogy suggested itself when one had to observe this entire process.
There was an intraspecific difference between Motorola and Givi
But there was also an intraspecific difference between Motorola and Givi - Motorola was a car washer from Russian outback, and Mikhail Tolstykh, nicknamed Givi, was a citizen of Ukraine who even served in the Ukrainian army for some time. Their public, on camera, cooperation was presented as the “unbreakable fraternal friendship” of the Russian volunteer with the very Ukrainian militia he came to help. Something like an international brigade, like 1936, Spain. But now, as we see, all this has disappeared into oblivion.
–Which of the two versions are you leaning towards? This is a continuation of the process of eliminating field commanders by the Russians." people's republics"? Or did Givi have many enemies among his entourage, if we recall the rumors about his cruelty towards his own fighters?
Rejection of the idea of negotiations with militants has always rested on these accentuated, very brightly highlighted faces
– I can predict that there will be three versions, just like after the death of any field commander militants in Donbass. Someone will definitely say that the Ukrainian special services are involved in everything, someone will say that this is an intraspecific showdown between militants, maybe disputes over the right to control some property, and so on. And someone will say that the Kremlin is thus eliminating the most public, most eyesore figures. Because it was precisely the rejection of the idea of any kind of negotiations with any militants that always rested on these accentuated, very brightly highlighted faces. And now the irritants are leaving the scene. All three versions will actively circulate in the media space, and each of them will have supporters.
- Zhilin, Givi, Motorola, Bolotov, Anashchenko - this is only in the last six months. Is anyone else from iconic figures“DPR” and “LPR” remain alive - except for Igor Girkin-Strelkov and Igor Bezler who left for Russia?
– In addition to their heads, among the combat commanders is Khodakovsky. Let me remind you that he once headed the Donetsk “Alpha”, and after the start of the invasion he went over to the side of the militants. Of those people who are carriers combat experience and have been fighting since 2014, have been public figures since 2014, probably Khodakovsky is the most famous. The rest of the public figures of the so-called “DPR” and “LPR” are people without a military background, these are people who tried to play the role of ideologists, public figures, talking heads, speakers, but these are not people who held weapons in their hands and systematically used these weapons, says Pavel Kazarin.
Rumors about the torture of the Ukrainian military, in which Givi took part, first appeared during the fierce battles for the Donetsk airport, in which the Somalia battalion took a direct part. This was the peak of Mikhail Tolstoy’s media fame: videos in which he forces prisoners Ukrainian soldiers and the officers have their own chevrons, all over the world media.
"Eat, creature!" – Givi and captured Ukrainian soldiers captured during the battles for the Donetsk airport (18+):
Givi himself has said more than once in an interview that he respects some Ukrainian commanders as worthy and intelligent rivals. According to a war journalist Sergei Loiko, who spent several days in the building of the Donetsk airport in the midst of heavy fighting and wrote a book about its defense, Tolstykh-Givi could hardly count on reciprocity and recognition of his military valor from the Ukrainian military:
– Ukrainian fighters despised him, hated him. Well, for some reason of my own, I understand why. They did not treat him as a serious enemy. They understood that, in fact, they were dealing with a completely different enemy. And Givi... Well, Givi was such a television picture, you know, it was such a promotion of the idea of "the greatness of the cattle." Because the Kremlin, led by Putin, understood that they could not induce any sensible people to go to fight in Donbass as volunteers. In each picture two heroes appeared - Motorola and Givi. These are just some operetta characters, bad, stupid, and there is nothing heroic about them. But don’t underestimate the Kremlin, that was the idea. This is a wonderful, amazing idea - selling s...mo to people who eat it. Because this is exactly the effect they wanted, so that all these Motorolas and Givi, of which there are plenty in Russia, and in the Donbass too, would turn on the TV in the evening, scratching their chests under their alcoholic T-shirt, sucking beer after they beat their wife or their children, and saw that in fact not everything is so bad, they can go to Ukraine to kill people, something they could not dream of, and also get money for it, and get on TV! “Well, Givi and Motorola got caught, and they’re actually some kind of Neanderthals compared to us,” he’ll think. Although, in general, it looks in the mirror. So they rode.
Of course, the Kremlin could find some heroic people, there were also romantics of the “Russian world” with normal faces who looked like quite decent people, but they had convictions, but these had no convictions at all, they were just bandits with high road. And real professional colonels and privates fought, and in fact, fight in Ukraine Russian army. But Givi and Motorola and the rest of the people from the back alley are just needed for the picture, to give people the impression that what’s going on there" people's war". I was at the airport for four days and four nights, and I never heard the word “Givi”. Nobody spoke about him! He was not an enemy, it was a television picture, and, in general, no one paid attention to him attention. He didn't deserve to be talked about.
What was the fate of the commanders of the Ukrainian military and pro-Russian separatists after the end of the hot phase of the war in Donbass - Radio Liberty infographic:
There are many crimes of Givi and Motorola, which are confirmed by witnesses
Main question now the question is who benefits from the elimination of war criminals who know a lot about undeclared war Russia versus Ukraine. Definitely not Ukraine
The DPR leadership, as expected, blames the death of the man known under the pseudonym “Givi” on Ukrainian saboteurs. The Ukrainian military denies any involvement in this incident, which is also expected, but much more plausible. The problem is not only how to deliver a flamethrower to the center of occupied Donetsk Bumblebee, from which the well-guarded Givi was allegedly killed. The main question is who benefits from the elimination of war criminals who know a lot about Russia’s undeclared war against Ukraine. Definitely not Ukraine.
36-year-old commander of the Somalia battalion Givi and Russian mercenary Arseniy Pavlov (Motorola) are notorious since the battle for Donetsk airport. In particular, we're talking about about their involvement in the torture of Ukrainian prisoners. (Givi's brutal treatment of captured "cyborgs" is captured in this video).
Among the many war crimes for which Givi and Motorola should answer, I would like to note, first of all, the torture of captured cyborgs and the murder of one of them, Igor Branovitsky.
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