Profile: Mikhail "Givi" Sergeyevich Tolstykh
If there is one thing Soviet propaganda always excelled at, it was building the cult of personality. We saw it not just with Stalin but with the great heroes of the Soviet Union like sniper Vasily Zaytsev, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and even the tragic hero firefighter Vladimir Pravik who died in the Chernobyl disaster. Though the Soviet propaganda machine is long gone, what has arisen is the internet cult of personality and it has given a whole new meaning to the term. Mikhail Sergeyevich Tolstykh, better known as "Givi," went from an Ilovaisk local and separatist battalion officer in the Ukraine War to internet celebrity thanks to YouTube and much to the dismay of patriotic Ukrainians.
Givi earned his 'celebrity' status when a video emerged in early October showing him speaking to a Russian news crew about ongoing operations at Donetsk Airport.¹ While filming, a sudden barrage of Grad rockets began to rain down on their position. Givi, calmly observes, and begins smoking his cigarette as everyone else scrambles for cover. Givi, with his usual foul-mouth, picks up a piece of scaulding hot shrapnel that landed near his feet and quickly drops it with some choice expletives. The first upload of the video to YouTube ended up garnering over 900,000 views and the attention of western media. It even earned him the nickname "Iron Givi."⁵ The video had such an impact that just a week later the controversial reporter Graham Phillips was interviewing the unmarried Givi and asking if he would give his number to all the girls on the internet interested in dating him. Of course, he provided his number.² For those of us who have closely followed the war, we always knew about Mikhail "Givi" Tolstykh with his foul mouth, chain smoking, tired eyes and charm but that video brought him to the forefront as a larger than life figure in an otherwise foreign conflict.
Apart from the legend built around the 34 year old Givi, he would like us to know that he is nothing more than a Ukrainian local (of Georgian ancestry from his Great-Grandfather) who has always felt more Russian then he has Ukrainian despite his service in the Ukrainian Army from 1998-2000. He is quoted as saying, "I hate that I was born in Ukraine, but glad it was in the Donbass." He told Graham Phillips in his interview that he has always supported Russia's policies and associates more with the tri-color (Russian flag) than that of Ukraine.² (In another interview, he told a reporter that his political heroes are Putin and Medvedev.¹⁹) While serving in the Ukrainian Army as part of the 169th Training Center in Desna, he was a tank commander and gunner on various platforms, including the T-64, T-72 and T-80, which would explain his successes in armored engagements. After his service in the Ukrainian military, he returned home to Ilovaisk where he performed various jobs such "as an industrial climber, hanging advertising" and even "repairing homes."³ Givi is always quick in his interviews to point out he is just an ordinary man and no hero in this war as the men on the frontlines are the "stars."² In the spring of 2014, when the Ukrainian War started, he still living in Ilovaisk and working as a truck driver at a rope factory in neighboring Khartsyzsk.²² He said he left his job as a driver and joined the fight on May 1, 2014 because he did not support Maidan and he felt Kiev was launching a war against his homeland and people.⁴ His first assignment was in the militia under the command of Igor Strelkov as a driver to Strelkov's aide "Prapor," who Givi credits as his mentor and teaching him to never fear enemy fire.³
Givi's mentor: "Prapor"
While the video of Givi remaining cool under the pressure of artillery fire is impressive, what was assuredly more impressive to his senior officers was his command in the Ilovaisk boiler. Boiler being a Ukrainian term for a complete encirclement of enemy forces. A Georgian journalist, speaking of the Ilovaisk offensive, gushingly compared his command skills to famed Russian General (also of Georgian ancestry) Pyotr Bagration.⁴ Though Givi has not yet earned enough victories to be a Bagration, he has certainly shown he can outmaneuver the Ukrainian general staff. On the night of August 18-19, the combined Ukrainian volunteer forces of Dnipro, Azov and Shakhtarsk, along with volunteer Donbass Battalion in the vanguard, entered the rebel held city of Ilovaisk where they seemed to meet only moderate resistance at first and even managed to capture a few Novorussian prisoners.⁶ From August 19-20, several failed counter offensives were waged by the NAF (Novorussian Armed Forces) causing Donbass Battalion to request reinforcements to hold Ilovaisk.⁷ Reinforcements that never arrived. So fierce was the fighting that the Ukrainian Interior Ministry reported that over 25% of Donbass Battalion fighters in the city had been killed. Donbass' leader, Semen Semenchenko, had also been wounded by mortar shrapnel and forced to evacuate from Ilovaisk. Semenchenko would later go on to accuse the government of having abandoned his unit there to die.⁸
During Ilovaisk, Givi, then a Captain of the all volunteer Somali Battalion, was fighting against Ukrainian forces inside the city alongside another interesting personalty from this war, Arseny "Motorola" Pavlov, commander of the volunteer Sparta Battalion. According to pro-Novorussian sources, Somali's name derives from the fact that Givi was entertained by the Somalians having defeated a much larger enemy. I can only assume he is referencing the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu (made famous in the film "Black Hawk Down") in which the United States had a pyrrhic victory and subsequently withdrew much to the pleasure of the Somalian militias. Under the leadership of Givi and Motorla, Novorussian forces began their encirclement of the city from August 24-26 until all routes out of the city were cut off.⁹ The results of this encirclement (or boiler if you will) were devastating. Donbass Battalion and their counterparts in the Dnipro and Kherson Battalions were paying the same heavy price in casualties. Command in the city all but disappeared as the command officer of Dnipro, Yuri Beryoza, suffered a concussion and had to be evacuated while the commander of Kherson, Ruslan Storcheus, was killed. Having the city surrounded, the separatist forces pounded it with artillery until Ukraine negotiated for a humanitarian corridor to be opened and allow out the trapped Ukrainian soldiers without their arms. This is where history becomes muddled in the propaganda of both sides. Those on the Novorussian side of the equation say that the Ukrainians disregarded their good will and attempted to leave the boiler fully armed resulting in approximately 100 Ukrainians being killed in the ensuing gunfight and another 500 taken prisoner.¹⁰ Ukraine on the other hand says that they left the boiler under a white flag of truce only to be ambushed and slaughtered. Either way, the total number of Ukrainians that died in Ilovaisk are still not known due to Kiev's attempts to hide true casualty numbers but some estimates are in the thousands. Meanwhile, Ukraine estimates they killed 300 NAF in the battle.¹¹
"I hate that I was born in Ukraine, but glad it was in the Donbass"
After Ilovaisk, Givi and Motorola were then deployed to handle the situation at Donetsk Airport by their superiors. Long a thorn in the side of the NAF, the Donetsk Airport became a symbol of the stubborn resistance by Ukraine's solders who had dug in at the new terminal since they had taken it during the summer. Around October 13-14, Givi made the announcement that they had taken the airport and that videos of Ukrainian soldiers inside the terminal singing the national anthem were older videos.¹² It would seem Givi was stretching there (perhaps even lying) as the NAF had taken several key buildings including the firehouse but the new terminal and old terminal remained firmly in Ukrainian hands. Ukraine's NSDC (National Security and Defense Council) did admit days later though that 70% of their force created to take the airport had since deserted leaving behind only a small, defensive force (those still there being called "Cyborgs" by fellow Ukrainians for their stubborness).¹³
Around November 12, Givi received a field promotion to that of Lieutenant Colonel and seemingly ran operations there at the Donetsk Airport with Motorola at his side.¹⁴ The fight at Donetsk Airport never died down as the NAF continually bombarded the new terminal with artillery and Ukrainian counter battery fire came in return to the city of Donetsk. In December, things were looking grim for the Ukrainian defenders and at one point they had even been pushed out from almost the entire area with exception for a few of the "Cyborgs" who hunkered down in the ruins of the new terminal.¹⁵ From January 13-16 a fierce battle for the new terminal waged with the NAF finally taking it in brutal floor to floor fighting. Ukraine's forces launched a counter offensive on the 17th but sustained such heavy casualties that they were driven back, leading many in Ukraine to question the general staff once more. It wasn't until January 22 that Kiev finally acknowledged that the NAF had taken the airport.¹⁶
A video emerged shortly after the capture of the airport of an enraged Givi throttling and hurling abuse at captured Ukrainian soldiers.¹⁸ The video is cringe inducing as you see Givi furiously asking the prisoners where they are from and why they have come to Donbass; delighting in the fact that they have failed to kill him but clearly irate that they have killed his men. Givi cut off their flag patches and forced them to eat them while brandishing a machete like sword. He reminded the prisoners mockingly that they are lucky to be alive and will remain alive since they surrendered. Seemingly only restrained by the dishonor of killing prisoners, his rage continued well on through the video as he even harassed a visibly fearful and wounded Ukrainian private. This has led for calls from Ukrainians and others for Givi to be charged with war crimes as he humiliated his prisoners which is a clear violation of Article 3(c) of the 1949 Geneva Convention. Novorussia though maintains that he could not violate the Geneva Convention as neither the Donetsk People's Republic nor Novorussia are adherents to the Geneva Convention.²⁰
Today, near the Donetsk Airport, Ukraine's forces reportedly still hold parts of the nearby town of Pisky and have no plans on giving it up anytime soon. To the north, a new boiler has been formed around the strategic rail hub of Debaltsevo but you won't see Givi there as it seems he has been left to give tours to journalists at the airport while commanding counter battery fire.²¹ After the war, Mikhail "Givi" Tolstykh says he hopes to work in "military or civil service for the benefit of the People's Republic of Donetsk."³
¹ - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIdEqBtFxS0
² - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN1FLTiEVMs
³ - http://novorosnews.ru/persons/biografiya-opolchentsa-givi/
⁴ - http://tvzvezda.ru/news/vstrane_i_mire/content/201410120840-xo64.htm
⁵ - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/11147880/Ukraine-Donetsk-fighter-unfazed-by-heavy-shelling.html
⁶ - http://www.segodnya.ua/regions/donetsk/548462.html
⁷ - http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28866283
⁸ - http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/abandoned-donbas-battalion-fights-on-361886.html
⁹ - http://www.wsj.com/articles/ukraine-suffers-harsh-defeat-in-eastern-town-1409616541
¹⁰ - http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/03/ukraine-soldier-youre-better-clueless-because-truth-horrible-moscow-ilovaysk
¹¹ - http://en.censor.net.ua/news/302570/107_ukrainian_and_300_russian_soldiers_killed_near_ilovaisk_defense_minister
¹² - http://www.novorosinform.org/news/id/12144
¹³ - http://www.rnbo.gov.ua/news/1842.html
¹⁴ - http://politicsnews.info/novorossiya/novosti/2083-podpolkovnik-givi-gotovit-syurpriz-vsu-video.html
¹⁵ - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IswNzFa7ez0
¹⁶ - http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30929344
¹⁷ - http://www.rferl.mobi/a/ukraine-prisoners-of-war-separatists-war-crimes-questions/26816285.html
¹⁸ - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD15bxM3mTc
¹⁹ - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVU49UDVTGQ
²⁰ - http://vineyardsaker.blogspot.de/2015/01/givi-and-geneva-conventions.html
²¹ - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kokjJXmjKbk
²² - http://t.co/pIRL5dhMjr
