Mikhail Tolstykh

Mikhail Sergeyevich Tolstykh (Russian: Михаил Сергеевич Толстых; Ukrainian: Михайло Сергійович Толстих, romanized: Mykhailo Serhiiovych Tolstykh; 19 July 1980 – 8 February 2017), better known by his nom de guerre Givi (Гиви), was a Ukrainian separatist officer wanted for war crimes.

[14] In January 2015, several videos surfaced of Tolstykh physically abusing captured Ukrainian artillerymen from the Second Battle of Donetsk Airport.

Oleksandra Matviychuk, head of the Kyiv-based Center for Civil Liberties, called what appears in the videos "flagrant violations of the Geneva Conventions" and said she was preparing the groundwork for prosecution.

[15] Early in the morning of 8 February 2017, while working in his Donetsk office, Tolstykh was killed by an explosion said to be caused by an RPO-A Shmel rocket launcher fired from an unknown distance.

[17][18] In 2022, journalist Yuriy Butusov claimed that Tolstykh was killed by a counter-intelligence unit of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) which was approved by then-president Petro Poroshenko.