Mikhail Tolstykh

Mikhail Sergeyevich Tolstykh (Russian: ÐœÐ¸Ñ…Ð°Ð¸ÌÐ» Ð¡ÐµÑ€Ð³ÐµÌÐµÐ²Ð¸Ñ‡ Ð¢Ð¾Ð»ÑÑ‚Ñ‹ÌÑ…), better known by his callsign Givi (Ð“Ð¸ÌÐ²Ð¸), is a commander in the pro-Russian "Somali Battalion" (Russian: Ð‘Ð°Ñ‚Ð°Ð»ÑŒÐ¾Ð½ Ð¡Ð¾Ð¼Ð°Ð»Ð¸) in the War in Donbass. In an online interview, Givi claimed that he is from Ilovaisk and served in the Ukrainian Army from 1998 to 2000 before working at a sling rope factory and security guard in a supermarket. He is 35 as of October 2015; his civilian name is Mikhail Tolstykh. In an interview he stated that his great-grandfather was an ethnic Georgian.

Mikhail Tolstykh

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