Separatist leader Givi who tortured Ukrainian captives killed in Donetsk

Mikhail ‘Givi’ Tolstykh, phot. by RIA Novosti

Mikhail ‘Givi’ Tolstykh, commander of the separatist ‘Somali’ battalion of the so-called Donetsk Republic (DPR) was killed at 06:12 on Wednesday in Donetsk, Russian and Ukrainian media report with reference to own sources among militants.

“An explosion occurred in Toltsykh’s office in Donetsk and a fire started. Givi was on the premises when this happened,” the source told Interfax-Ukraine.

Soon after alleged explosion: Blaze in building where Givi’s office was located, phot. rusvesna.su

Tolstykh’s office in Donetsk was blown up, Igor Strelkov-Girkin, a former separatist leader, says on Russian social network Vkontakte.

“Givi’s office was supposedly blown up together with the owner. Presumably, it was hit by a shell of the RPO-A Shmel [man-portable rocket launcher],” Ukrainian news agency UNIAN quotes Strelkov.

As reported earlier, ‘Givi’ took part in the recent hostilities in Ukraine’s Avdiyivka and was slightly injured.

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In October 2015, one of the commanders of the pro-Russian separatists Arsen Pavlov, better known by the call sign of ‘Motorola’ was killed by elevator explosion in Donetsk. Militants Batman, Mozgovoi, Dromov, Ishchenko, Bolotov – the first head of the ‘Luhansk People’s Republic’ – and others died under puzzling circumstances.

The authorities of the self-proclaimed republic suspect Ukraine is behind the attempt.

According to ‘prosecutors’ of the ‘DPR’, the attack was organized by Ukrainian subversives. The deaths of ‘Givi’ and ‘Motorola’ are links in one chain, they told Russian news agency Interfax. Law enforcers of the ‘republic’ are in hot pursuit of the alleged perpetrators, they state.

In turn, the Ukrainian side has not confirmed the fact of his death yet, but the country’s Security Service (SBU) suggests that Givi might been killed by enemies and rivals from the immediate circle:

When the conflict between Russia and Ukraine burst out in 2014, the 37-year-old Mikhail Tolstykh worked as truck driver at a cable plant. ‘Givi’, who joined Russian-backed forces in Donbas, was notorious for his cruelty and sadism. Among other things, he personally killed captive Ukrainian soldiers and officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

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Appalling details of maltreating Ukrainian prisoners of war were revealed as Russian militants posted a video that features how separatist ‘Somali’ battalion commander (nom-de-guerre Givi) was victimising Ukrainian servicemen that had been taken captive near Donetsk Airport. It is noteworthy that Russian TV channels Lifenews and Rossiya were covering the terrible scene.

Read also: War crime in Donbas: Terrorists torture Ukrainian POWs, Russia’s Lifenews reports live

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