Mikhail Tolstykh Givi personal life parents. Mikhail Tolstoy: biography, creativity, career, personal life

The life and death of battalion commander Givi

Military correspondent of "Life" Semyon Pegov - about the commander of the "Somalia" battalion, Mikhail Tolstykh (Givi), who was killed by Ukrainian saboteurs this morning.

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In my memory alone, there have been attempts on Givi’s life three times. The last time I saw him was in the spring of 2015 at the Donetsk airport (it was still turbulent there). He said that a sniper shot at him. In the back. That is, the bed was located somewhere in the Donetsk high-rise buildings.

The sabotage groups of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are really coming to our rear,” the battalion commander of “Somalia” summed up then.

Over the past few months, Givi has had little contact with friends and has practically closed himself off from any contact. I called him two weeks ago when I was in Donetsk.

We are now working at the front, I can’t go to the city, see you next time,” was the last thing I heard from him.

These words contain the entire battalion commander of “Somalia”.

Firstly, this is his “work”. Givi had an amazing ability to work. I myself have witnessed more than once when both the head of the DPR Ministry of Defense and Alexander Zakharchenko himself urged him - pale and with huge moats of insomnia under his eyes: “Boy, take a break.”

But even on the verge of a stroke from nervous overstrain, Givi did not leave the front line.

Here's the second one: “at the front.”

Givi was not a staff or cabinet commander. They led their fighters directly on the line of contact. You used to come to the “nine” - that’s what they called one of the objects near the Donetsk airport, from where the area was clearly visible - and to the question “How can I find a battalion commander?” you hear the usual: “Yes, he’s shooting from the “cliff” on the seventh floor.”

You go up to the seventh floor, and Givi is standing there in a bulletproof vest over his naked body with a cigarette in his mouth. Dark paws clutch a large-caliber machine gun, which, due to intense shooting, strives to escape from the hands.

Well, what about the video when, during an impromptu “pressure”, the same “nine” began shelling with “Grads”. At the sound of rocket artillery, all the reporters (and myself included, to be honest) run for cover, but Givi seemed frozen in place with an impenetrable face. They say that these are not rockets at all, but just grasshoppers chattering.

In general, you understand how Givi felt about the war. Passionately and selflessly.

In fact, of course, he was not Georgian. His grandfather is Ossetian, on his mother’s side. The battalion commander's name according to his passport is Mikhail Tolstykh. I found out about this almost by accident, because no one called him anything else than Givi. Everyone joked about this topic - because Mikhail’s appearance really had a pronounced mountain accent. Motorola, his colleague and friend, was especially zealous.

Greetings, my black brother! - Arsen shouted, coming to Givi in ​​Ilovaisk. There was no smell of racism here; Motorola, as you know, was from Komi by blood; For the front, jokes in this spirit are a vital necessity.

Givi started fighting in Slavyansk. In the 90s, he himself served in the Ukrainian army, in tank forces, so he had experience (later he said that he often had to engage in clashes with former colleagues).

After the Strelkovites lost Yampol (then the militia was commanded by Igor Strelkov), Givi was transferred to another front. In his native Ilovaisk. There he gathered his own detachment from local guys and began to liberate the city inch by inch.

A little later, motor catchers arrived to help the Ilovaisk residents. It was Arsen Pavlov who gave the nickname to the Givin guys - Samolians. In militia slang, this was the name given to those who, by mistake, could open fire in the direction of “their own.”

Times were troubled. Where they were and where they were were determined by inspiration. Givi’s subordinates were so responsible that even the well-recognized Motorola was not allowed through at checkpoints, and sometimes they pulled the gates. It all went from there.

Possessing an extraordinary sense of humor, Givi joked with Motor and named his unit: “Somalia.” It took root.

The Somalis liberated Ilovaisk, Nizhnyaya Krynka, and distinguished themselves during the storming of the Donetsk airport.

Givi himself - along with Batya (Alexander Zakharchenko), Motorola (Arsen Pavlov) and Abkhaz (Ahra Avidzba) - passed into the status of legends of the “Russian spring”.

Mikhail Tolstykh approached security issues, perhaps, even more carefully than his other comrades. I visited him in his office. To get there, you had to overcome four “cordons” where you were examined with partiality, despite your long-standing friendship.

It has not yet been established what kind of explosive device went off in Givi’s office. It could have been an ordinary explosive package; there is a version that they fired at the office from a “Bumblebee” - a rocket-propelled flamethrower. However, in both cases it was necessary to get close enough. This means that it could not have happened without an agent embedded in the structure of the battalion itself.

Such terrorist attacks have been planned for months and do not happen by accident. By removing Motorola, attacking Donetsk once again, brutally killing Givi, Kyiv is demonstrating the real price of the promises made in the international arena.

Mikhail Tolstoy died in his office, Arsen Pavlov in the elevator of a multi-story building - this suggests that for the Ukrainian authorities the real front runs much deeper than the official demarcation line.

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Biography of Mikhail Tolstoy (Givi)

In September 2016, the battalion commander was awarded the rank of Colonel of the DPR.

He was awarded the Order of “Hero of the DPR” (2015) and other awards of the DPR, including two Crosses of St. George and the medal “For the Defense of Slavyansk.”

Mikhail Tolstykh was not married.

________________________

Look:

Last interview with Mikhail Tolstykh -

The commander of the Somalia battalion, Mikhail Tolstykh, known as Givi, was killed in Donetsk. There was an explosion in his office. The authorities of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic called Givi's murder a terrorist attack.

Donetsk News Agency

According to him, DPR law enforcement officers “hot on their heels” tracked down the alleged perpetrators. “We know what kind of people these are. We will find them, and they will be punished to the fullest extent of martial law,” the agency’s interlocutor said.

A criminal case has been initiated under the article “Terrorist attack”.

"Interfax"

"Interfax"

The exact cause of the explosion has not yet been announced. According to one version (,), a shot was fired into Givi’s office from a rocket-propelled infantry flamethrower (RPO) “Bumblebee”.

An Interfax source in the DPR law enforcement agencies did not rule out that the explosion could have been organized by Kiev in connection with the “active participation of the Tolstoys in the defense of Donetsk during the latest escalation of the situation.” “In recent days, together with his battalion, he defended Donetsk, taking part in military clashes,” the source recalled.

An unnamed source of the 360 ​​TV channel suggested that the Tolstykhs were “blown up by their own”: “This terrorist attack cannot be classified as outside interference - the bomb was planted in the premises. No targeted shots were recorded from the Ukrainian side. From this we can conclude that the legendary “Givi” was blown up by their own people, by analogy with Arsen Pavlov.”

Advisor to the head of the Security Service of Ukraine Yuriy Tandit, commenting on the explosion, said that “certain processes are continuing.” “It is obvious that the fake Novorossiya did not continue, and perhaps the people who were associated with it are being purged by the services. But this is an assumption,” said the SBU representative.

Advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Zoryan Shkiryak, in turn, suggested that the leaders of the self-proclaimed DPR and LPR surrender, since “they could be next.” “We suggest Zakharchenko and Plotnitsky surrender to the Ukrainian authorities, go to the nearest SBU or National Police office and show themselves to the Ukrainian authorities. Because, given the situation, they could be next,” he said.

According to Shkiryak, between Zakharchenko and Givi “there were serious disagreements.” “In the event of the liquidation of Givi, it is too early to say whether it is the Russian special services, or whether it is “infighting” with Zakharchenko,” said a representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. “They had a very serious conflict, which involved both the redistribution of so-called material goods and the redistribution of resources financial flows, and what concerned the failure to comply with Givi's orders from Zakharchenko. Personally, this version seems more likely to me."

Video from the explosion site:

February 8, 12:06 “According to preliminary data, the death of the Givi occurred as a result of an explosion from a Shmel rocket-propelled infantry flamethrower,” the DPR operational command said.

February 8, 12:24 Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov: “Obviously, we are talking about attempts to destabilize the situation in Donbass. Of course, we hope that there is a certain margin of safety, and those who are behind such murders will not succeed in everything -to lead to further escalation, because the situation already remains, unfortunately, very tense due to the aggressive actions taken by the Ukrainian side. We absolutely and unequivocally deny accusations against the Russian side of possible involvement in this; about this "There is no question. As for who is behind the attempts to destabilize the situation, they must be determined during the investigative actions that are carried out on the spot."

Image copyright VALERY SHARIFULIN/TASS Image caption Mikhail Tolstykh was born in Ilovaisk, Donetsk region and worked at a rope factory before the war

Early on Wednesday morning, in the suburbs of Donetsk, Mikhail Tolstykh, commander of the Donbass separatist “Somalia” battalion, known by his nickname Givi, was killed. His office at the battalion base was shot from a Bumblebee infantry flamethrower. The BBC Russian service asked journalists working in eastern Ukraine to comment on this murder, which the authorities of the self-proclaimed DPR have already called a terrorist attack.

Over the past two years, a number of prominent field commanders of armed groups have been killed in Donbass. None of them died during the fighting with the Ukrainian military.

The so-called “Ministry of Defense” of the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic” has already said that the Ukrainian authorities were involved in the murder of Tolstykh-Givi and blamed it on the adviser to the head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs, Zoryan Shkiryak. “I appeal to all Ukrainian authorities and military personnel. You will not shoot us all!” said the head of the DPR, Alexander Zakharchenko.

“At the beginning of 2017: Mikhail Tolstykh, Oleg Anashchenko, Valery Bolotov joined their terrorist brethren, destroyed by the Kremlin masters in 2016 and 2015. Broken cards,” wrote, in turn, Artem Shevchenko, head of the communications department, on Facebook Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.

Who is Mikhail Tolstykh-Givi, how did he become a participant in the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, who could have killed him and what could be the consequences of this murder? The BBC Russian Service asked these questions to two journalists working in Donbass.

Mikhail Tolstykh, like Arseny Pavlov (call sign "Motorola", commanded the battalion of Donbass separatists "Sparta", died in an explosion in October 2016) became famous and gained fame during the battles for the Donetsk airport, which lasted until January 2015. They acted as the main speakers, the faces of this war for the official Russian media. Everyone had a clear role and role.

Pavlov is an example of a militia, a man from the land who came to help the fraternal people of Donbass. Givi comes from a local background, a native Donetsk resident (although how much of a native remains to be seen). Defends his land and his people.

While the active phase of hostilities was going on, these people were needed. But after the second Minsk, the need for bright commanders sharply disappeared - bureaucracy and brightness are incompatible things. It became clear that only those who are less bright have a chance to survive. So Dremov [Pavel Dremov, call sign Batya, died on December 12, 2015 in a car explosion on the way to his wedding], Batman [Alexander Bednov, former Minister of Defense of the self-proclaimed LPR, killed on January 1 during the shooting of a convoy], Mozgovoy [Alexey Mozgovoy, commander of the Prizrak battalion, died during the shelling of his car on May 23, 2015] - they did not want to integrate into the vertical.

In Donetsk they preferred to negotiate. There was no longer a need for Strelkov [Igor Girkin, former “Minister of Defense” of the DPR, now lives in Moscow], Bezler [Igor Bezler, call sign Bes, former commander of the “Donbass people’s militia”] - they were taken out, taken out of the game. Now there is no one in particular to take out. It is important to remember that after the explosion in which Pavlov died, Tolstoy wanted to escape and take his family to Transnistria.

The question is, why did they decide to get rid of him right now, what happened? It is clear that this is not a Ukrainian sabotage group - they have nothing to do with the deaths of commanders in the DPR. There are business and property matters. There are rumors that he “finished” the plant in Gorlovka - for non-ferrous metals, and sold it to Russia.

As we see the situation escalate, maybe this is an internal conflict. Someone could decide to take advantage of the situation and put pressure on the Russian authorities.

In any case, this, if my memory serves me right, can end the series of killings of commanders. Only the former Vostok commander Khodakovsky [Alexander Khodakovsky, former secretary of the “DPR Security Council”, who later announced his departure to the opposition] remains in Donetsk. By and large, there are no more individuals. If I were him, I would think about leaving Donetsk as quickly as possible.

On the one hand, we constantly hear from official [Russian] propagandists that DPR tanks will soon be in Kyiv, and political scientist [Sergei] Markov tells how a Mongolian university called the Donbass army one of the strongest in the world. Then these same people tell us about a mysterious sabotage group, and for some reason this does not cause dissonance in anyone.

But we are in a zone of turbulence, given the tense situation around Avdievka, in the Mariupol direction. The second Minsk agreements will soon be two years old. It became obvious that it would not be possible to fulfill them, even the clause on the exchange of prisoners. Official politicians will sooner or will have to recognize the impracticability, but the alternative to peace agreements can only be a new round of hostilities.

Those who eliminated Mikhail Tolstykh may want to bring the situation to this point.

Givi was a famous commander who began his journey from the depths of the Donetsk events. Tall, dark, efficient, fit. Favorite sports: boxing, football. His grandfather, who participated in the Great Patriotic War, had the nickname Givi; He took the same nickname as his call sign here during the war. In himself, he is a lively, sharp, daring, outspoken person who has been interested in the ideas of the “Donbass People’s Republic” and military affairs for the last three years.

First he commanded a company, then a tank battalion, and ended his life as commander of a motorized rifle battalion. His death is associated with being hit by a thermobaric projectile from a rocket-propelled infantry flamethrower "Bumblebee", the volumetric explosion of which burns all living things within 0.4 seconds.

Since he fought against the armed forces of Ukraine, first of all, his death could be beneficial to the armed forces of Ukraine as an enemy of the “Donetsk People’s Republic”. First of all, they are interested.

My point of view is that theses may lie around the Ukrainian sabotage groups that operate in Donetsk. If this is so, then it was done in a meticulous professional manner and cleanly - they did it and left.

The struggle for power takes place here constantly: there were primaries, there were elections - elections of mayors of municipalities. The struggle continues, it is everywhere, it is a legitimate process. I don’t think that Givi’s death is connected with such a struggle for power. This is all a continuation of the war, which neither the West nor the East can stop. All this is war, and everything else is a consequence of this phenomenon.

In fact, the processes are very acute, and they, naturally, should alert not only the residents of Donetsk or Ukraine, but also the residents of Europe and the Russian Federation, because if there is a sabotage war, it will kill people who defend this or that idea in the West , both in Russia and the CIS. This is a very dangerous phenomenon that can very quickly and negatively affect the lives of ordinary people.

I don't think Givi's death is related to the recent escalation in the region. You can’t just jump out like a jack-in-the-box, fire a thermobaric projectile and leave. All these things are prepared carefully, over many months.

Mikhail Sergeevich Tolstykh was born in the Donetsk region, in the city of Ilovaisk in 1980 on July 19. Almost nothing is known about the early years of his life. He himself spoke little about them. But there is evidence that his childhood was not easy. Growing up as a boy, he was not very active. He often closed in on himself. I did not enjoy authority among my classmates. I didn’t like studying and skipped classes. I tried alcohol and drugs early. But he still graduated from school. He entered the technical school where he studied before he was drafted into the army.

In the armed forces, the guy ends up in the training center of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine called “Desna”. This center trained specialists with good knowledge of military equipment and weapons. Graduated commanders, reconnaissance officers, snipers and other military specialists. Mikhail Sergeevich served as tank commander. In the army he takes the pseudonym Givi. He himself explained this choice by the fact that he had Georgians in his family. His grandfather, who fought in the Great Patriotic War, was named Givi.

After serving in the army for two years (1999-2000), the young man returned home to the Donetsk region. He went through many specialties. He worked as a loader, cleaner, car washer, security guard, and industrial climber. After the world-famous events on the Maidan in the city of Kyiv, Mikhail, together with his fellow countrymen from Donetsk and Lugansk, began to organize voluntary detachments that did not agree with the policies of their government. Subsequently, participating in battles, he became known as commander Givi. Chronicles and media reports told the whole world about him.

Mikhail Tolstoy was distinguished by his cruelty towards those with whom he fought. Since 2014, he has been part of a battalion called "Somalia". He held the rank of colonel in the DPR Armed Forces.

Mikhail did not like to talk about his personal life and family. He always noted that being around him was very dangerous. He did not want to expose his loved ones to this danger. But, nevertheless, he was married (2001). He has a son, Sergei, who is receiving a military education at the Lyceum. Nothing is known about the wife. Tolstykh divorced her.

From his own stories it was known that he was no longer going to unite himself by marriage, since he knew how dangerous it was. But everything human was not alien to him. He also talked about this. According to him, the main thing in his life was resolving the conflict, and not deciding how to organize his personal life.

In my memory alone, there have been attempts on Givi’s life three times. The last time I saw him was in the spring of 2015 at the Donetsk airport (it was still turbulent there). He said that a sniper shot at him. In the back. That is, the bed was located somewhere in the Donetsk high-rise buildings.

The sabotage groups of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are really coming to our rear,” the battalion commander of “Somalia” summed up then.

Over the past few months, Givi has had little contact with friends and has practically closed himself off from any contact. I called him two weeks ago when I was in Donetsk.

We are now working at the front, I can’t go to the city, see you next time,” was the last thing I heard from him.

These words contain the entire battalion commander of "Somalia".

Firstly, this is his “work”. Givi had an amazing ability to work. I myself have witnessed more than once when both the head of the DPR Ministry of Defense and Alexander Zakharchenko himself urged him - pale and with huge ditches of insomnia under his eyes: “Boy, take a break.”

But even on the verge of a stroke from nervous overstrain, Givi did not leave the front line.

Here's the second one: "at the front."

Givi was not a staff or cabinet commander. They led their fighters directly on the line of contact. You used to come to the “nine” - that’s what they called one of the objects near the Donetsk airport, from where the area was clearly visible - and to the question “How can I find the battalion commander?” you hear the usual: “Yes, he’s shooting from the “cliff” on the seventh floor.”

You go up to the seventh floor, and Givi is standing there in a bulletproof vest over his naked body with a cigarette in his mouth. Dark paws clutch a large-caliber machine gun, which, due to intense shooting, strives to escape from the hands.

Well, what about the video when, during an impromptu “pressure”, the same “nine” began shelling with “Grads”. At the sound of rocket artillery, all the reporters (and myself included, to be honest) run for cover, but Givi seemed frozen in place with an impenetrable face. They say that these are not rockets at all, but just grasshoppers chattering.

In general, you understand how Givi felt about the war. Passionately and selflessly.

In fact, of course, he was not Georgian. His grandfather is Ossetian, on his mother’s side. The battalion commander's name according to his passport is Mikhail Tolstykh. I found out about this almost by accident, because no one called him anything else than Givi. Everyone joked about this topic - because Mikhail’s appearance really had a pronounced mountain accent. Motorola, his colleague and friend, was especially zealous.

Givi started fighting in Slavyansk. In the 90s, he himself served in the Ukrainian army, in tank forces, so he had experience (later he said that he often had to engage in clashes with former colleagues).

After the Strelkovites lost Yampol (then the militia was commanded by Igor Strelkov), Givi was transferred to another front. In his native Ilovaisk. There he gathered his own detachment from local guys and began to liberate the city inch by inch.

A little later, motor catchers arrived to help the Ilovaisk residents. It was Arsen Pavlov who gave the nickname to the Givin guys - Samolians. In militia slang, this was the name given to those who, by mistake, could open fire in the direction of “their own.”

Times were troubled. Where they were and where they were were determined by inspiration. Givi’s subordinates were so responsible that even the well-recognized Motorola was not allowed through at checkpoints, and sometimes they pulled the gates. It all went from there.

Possessing an extraordinary sense of humor, Givi joked with Motor and named his unit: “Somalia.” It took root.

The Somalis liberated Ilovaisk, Nizhnyaya Krynka, and distinguished themselves during the storming of the Donetsk airport.

Givi himself - along with Batya (Alexander Zakharchenko), Motorola (Arsen Pavlov) and Abkhaz (Ahra Avidzba) - passed into the status of legends of the “Russian spring”.

Mikhail Tolstykh approached security issues, perhaps, even more carefully than his other comrades. I visited him in his office. To get there, you had to overcome four “cordons” where you were examined with partiality, despite your long-standing friendship.

It has not yet been established what kind of explosive device went off in Givi’s office. It could have been an ordinary explosive package; there is a version that they fired at the office from a “Bumblebee” - a rocket-propelled flamethrower. However, in both cases it was necessary to get close enough. This means that it could not have happened without an agent embedded in the structure of the battalion itself.

Such terrorist attacks have been planned for months and do not happen by accident. By removing Motorola, attacking Donetsk once again, brutally killing Givi, Kyiv is demonstrating the real price of the promises made in the international arena.

Mikhail Tolstoy died in his office, Arsen Pavlov in the elevator of a multi-story building - this suggests that for the Ukrainian authorities the real front runs much deeper than the official demarcation line.