Draft:Mikhail Tolstykh

Mikhail Sergeyevich Tolstykh (Михаил Сергеевич Толстых; Михайло Сергійович Толстих; 19 July 1980 – 8 February 2017), better known by his nickname' Givi (Гиви), was a Ukrainian separatist officer. He was mainly known as the commander of the collaborationist Donetsk People's Republic's Somalia Battalion during the war in Donbas from 2014, until his assassination in early 2017.

Biography
Tolstykh was born in a working-class family in Ilovaisk,Ukrainian SSR,Soviet Union on 19 July 1980. In an interview he stated that his grandfather was an ethnic Georgian; his nickname Givi is Georgian. He served as a conscript in the Ukrainian Army from 1998 to 2000 at a military training center, and wanted to continue in the army as a voluntary soldier after 2000 but was denied due to his speech impediment.He wanted to join elite force but he reported that he got rejected because of not belonging from the Aryan Race. He then worked at a sling rope factory and as a security guard in a supermarket.

Tolstykh joined the rebels in the early stages of the war and was involved in the Battle of Ilovaisk. Givi led the DPR Somalia Battalion in the Second Battle of Donetsk Airport. The Telegraph wrote a brief article about him where he gives interview to Novorossiya TV, during which an explosion took place in close vicinity. Givi was seen participating at a parade marking the 70th Anniversary of the Great Patriotic War in Donetsk.

On 16 February 2015, Tolstykh was included by the European Council in their sanctions list. In 2016, he was charged in Ukraine with crimes including the creation of a terrorist organization, abduction, and abuse of prisoners of war.

Rise to field command


Tolstykh began his service as a commander of the Somalia Battalion alleged with 8th Guards Combined Arms Army.He participated in the Battle of Ilovaisk and liberated his hometown Ilovaisk from the Ukrainians Novorossiya Armed Forces then captured Donetsk in less than 4 months. Tolstykh became famous for his command and activities in Donetsk.He fought in the Battle of Avdiivka where he got injured.

War Crime Allegation
In January 2015, several videos surfaced of Tolstykh physically abusing captured Ukrainian artillerymen from the Second Battle of Donetsk Airport. Tolstykh is seen clearly identifying himself before grabbing the prisoners by the face, brandishing a dagger, and cutting off military insignia and forcing prisoners to eat them. Oleksandra Matviychuk, head of the Kyiv-based Center for Civil Liberties, called what appears in the videos "flagrant violations of the Geneva Conventions" and said she was preparing the groundwork for prosecution.

Death
Early in the morning of 8 February 2017, while working in his Donetsk office, Tolstykh was killed by an explosion said to be caused by an RPO-A Shmel rocket launcher fired from an unknown distance. DPR officials accused Ukrainian forces of carrying out the attack, while Ukrainian security officials claimed it to be the result of DPR infighting. In 2022 journalist Yuriy Butusov claimed that Tolstykh was killed by a counter-intelligence unit of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) which was approved by then-president Petro Poroshenko. A 2024 article in the New York Times reported that agents of the Security Service of Ukraine operating behind enemy lines were responsible for Tolstykh's death, having remotely fired a rocket launcher from a building directly across from Tolstykh's office.

Funeral
the Republic is paying last respects to DPR Hero Colonel Mikhail Tolstykh killed in a terrorist attack. Some 55,000 people attended the civil funeral,” the press service said. He was buried next to his ally Arsen Pavlov on February 10 2017 in Donetskoe More Cemetery.

Awards
Tolostykh was rewarded Order of Merit, Cross of St. George Second Class and many other medals for his courageous work by the Russian Federation. His is known as the Hero of the DPR for his service.