Givi

Profile

 * In memory, DONi News.
 * Photo gallery-MK.
 * Life news interview with Givi on 3 Feb. 2017, after Ukrainian attack on Avdeevka was repelled, including by "Sparta" (Motorola) and "Somali" (Givi). 'Somali' lost several fighters and Givi was lightly wounded, but was back the next day. Givi says that Ukrainian side had higher losses and was resorting to shelling civilian areas; and that his side did not extend a counter-attack further as he was following Minsk agreements.
 * Who Givi really was, how I’ll Remember Him, Graham Phillips, February 10, 2017

Givi supported DPR leadership; had ascetic lifestyle.

A video with his reaction to a Grad shell hitting nearby made him famous internationally. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sM2ek76VAZU

...As well as him calling UAF commander on the phone to stop the shelling, Aug. 30, 2014.

Assassination
8 Feb. 2017. Prominent commander of DPR "Somali" batallion Mikhail "Givi" Tolstykh is assassinated in his office, said to be by a shot from "Shmel' portable thermobaric rocket. DPR blamed Ukraine for the assassination.
 * Interview with 'Somali' HQ chief (refutes fakes, like 'opolchenie member claiming responsibility', earlier one on Givi planning to leave, etc)
 * DPR investigators confirmed that IED is considered as a possibility.
 * Cassad. Includes 'Legion' commander & DPR MP Sergei Zavdoveev discussing versions, IED or Shmel, IED a priority based on damage (window frames not (much) damaged, and not towards the inside) and injuries (looks more like a directed blast coming from a heater by the window); suspects it could be set by a new (double) recruit.
 * Photos of office location here.

Investigation
Investigators in DPR at some point allege ("Hunting the commander", documentary film by Alexander Rogatkin, Oct. 3, 2018), and an accused and self-identified as a SBU agent Oleg Sugerei appears to confirm (March 5, 2020 propagandist interview on Censor.net) that the murder was organized by SBU, and an Ukrainian girl Anastasia Petriga, a student at the Kiev institute of culture, smuggled an explosive device to his office. SBU denied Sugerei's story.

In March 2019, SBU insider Valeriy Prozorov backed up the SBU assasination version.

On February 9. 2017 apparently a fake story of an insider Igor Myltsev taking responsibility was implanted via "Novaya Gazeta" and its notorious reporter Pavel Kanygin, who later published an update admitting that the story may be fake. Voha, the new "Somali" commander, denied all the claims made by Novaya Gazeta; in particular he said that there were two fighters with call names "Frantsuz", but their real names do not match.

Tributes

 * 9 Feb. 2017 Givi funeral photo, video report report, many thousands, and Zakharchenko attending in central Donetsk.
 * Farewell, funeral, -DAN news.
 * Farewell-Cassad.
 * Donbass pays the last tribute to "Givi", DONi news
 * The Commanders 'Givi' and 'Motorola' buried side by side in Donetsk, DONi news