Mikhail Golovatov

{{Distinguish|Mikhail Gorbachev}}

{{Short description|Russian intelligence officer (1949–2022)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Mikhail Golovatov

| native_name = {{Nobold|Михаил Головатов}}

| native_name_lang = ru

| birth_name = Mikhail Vasilyevich Golovatov

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1949|08|23|df=y}}

| birth_place = Mukovnin, Kletsky District, Stalingrad Oblast, Russian SFSR, USSR

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2022|08|01|1949|08|23|df=y}}

| death_place = Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia

| occupation = Intelligence officer

}}

Mikhail Vasilyevich Golovatov ({{langx|ru|Михаил Васильевич Головатов}}; 23 August 1949 – 1 August 2022){{Cite web|url=https://rossaprimavera.ru/news/b33a32b5|title=Ex-commander of "Alpha" Golovatov died|date=1 August 2022|access-date=1 August 2022|language=Russian}} was a Russian intelligence officer.{{Cite web|url=https://m.delfi.lt/en/article.php?id=79285777|title=Ex-KGB officer tells court they were in Vilnius in 1991 on Gorbachev's orders|date=11 October 2018|access-date=1 August 2022|language=Russian}}{{Cite web|url=https://ria.ru/20220801/golovatov-1806449973.html|title=Former Alpha commander Mikhail Golovatov has died|date=1 August 2022|access-date=1 August 2022|language=Russian}}

In 1965, Golovatov enrolled at the N. N. Godovikov Moscow Aviation College. He worked at the {{ill|Moscow Fire Department|ru|Пожарная охрана Москвы}} until 1972. Golovatov was a member of the sports and fitness society Dynamo Sports Club from 1965 to 1971. He worked with the KGB. In 1984, Golovatov was dispatched to Khabarovsk, where he established the regional branch of the KGB's Alpha Group. He was later commander of Alpha Group.

In 2011, Golovatov was arrested at Vienna International Airport by Austrian police, having been placed on the European Arrest Warrant by Lithuania for his role in the events of 13 January 1991.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-14202371|title=Baltic fury over Austria's release of ex-Soviet officer|work=BBC News|date=19 July 2011|access-date=1 August 2022}} The Lithuanian government was informed, but Austrian authorities released him within 24 hours, claiming that the information provided by Lithuania was "too vague".{{Cite news|url=https://m.delfi.lt/ru/news/article.php?id=47684905|title=Головатов вернулся в Москву: СМИ утверждают, что при вмешательстве МИД и прокуратуры России |trans-title=Golovatov returned to Moscow: the media claim that with the intervention of the Foreign Ministry and the Russian prosecutor's office|work=Delfi|date=17 July 2011|access-date=1 August 2024|language=Russian}} Former Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves has more than once accused the then-Austrian Foreign Minister, Michael Spindelegger, of personally intervening in the case with the Austrian border police in order to please the Russian government.{{Cite web |date=5 October 2021 |title=Alexei Navalny and the West's Schröderizatsiya| work=CEPA |url=https://cepa.org/alexei-navalny-and-the-wests-schroderizatsiya/ |first=Toomas Hendrik |last=Ilves |author-link=Toomas Hendrik Ilves|access-date=1 August 2024}}{{Cite tweet |user=IlvesToomas |number= 1818877730470916537 |title= Don't ever forget the Austrian foreign minister-tool Michael Spindlegger, who sped out to Vienna's Schwechat airport to exfiltrate Mihhail Golovatov, the internationally wanted OMON commander responsible for this crime, after he was arrested by the Austrian border police |first=Toomas Hendrik |last=Ilves |author-link=Toomas Hendrik Ilves}}

On 27 March 2019, the District Court of Vilnius found Golovatov guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the events of 13 January 1991. The panel of three judges sentenced Golovatov in absentia to 12 years in prison.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rbc.ru/society/27/03/2019/5c9b38e49a79471cbb657687|title=A court in Lithuania sentenced Marshal Yazov to 10 years for the events of 1991|work=RBK Group|date=27 March 2019|access-date=1 August 2022|language=Russian}}

Over his career, Golovatov received a number of medals and awards, including the title of {{ill|Master of Sports of the USSR|ru|Мастер спорта СССР}}, Order of Honour, {{Ill|Order "For Personal Courage" (Belarus)|ru|Орден «За личное мужество» (Белоруссия)|lt=Order "For Personal Courage"}} of Belarus, Order of the Red Star, Medal "For Courage" of Russia and Order of the Red Banner.

Golovatov died in August 2022, at the age of 72, at his house in Sochi.