Biography

Born on 18 December 1972 in Snizhne, Donetsk region. Until 2014, he worked for the SBU.

Participated in the Anti-Maidan movement. In May 2014, he created and headed the terrorist armed formation of the so-called 'DPR' - the 'Vostok' battalion (call sign - Skif). Several operations planned by Khodakovsky, in which the battalion took part (the assault on Donetsk airport on 26 May, the assault on the Marinivka checkpoint on 5 June), failed, and he was criticised by the 'Minister of Defence' of the 'DPR' Igor Strelkov.

In July 2014, he joined the "Military Council" created by Strelkov.

On 9 July, after a split in the 'Vostok' battalion, he lost a significant number of fighters who came under Girkin's command, and with some of his loyalists was forced to move the battalion's base to Makiivka. On 19 July, he resigned from the post of 'minister of security' of the 'DPR'.

Khodakovsky stated that he supported the unity of Ukraine, but only pro-Russian Ukraine, and was not subordinate to the DPR leaders. Later, he recorded a video message in which he accused bloggers of taking words out of context, but did not retract his statements about unity.

On 23 July 2015, he was dismissed from the post of secretary of the 'DPR Security Council' by a decree issued by the leader of the DPR, Oleksandr Zakharchenko, with media reports indicating that the decree was dated 15 March 2015. The media attributed Khodakovsky's dismissal to the DPR leadership's attempts to deprive oligarch Rinat Akhmetov, whose creator Khodakovsky is, of his influence on the processes in Donbas. After his release, Khodakovsky released a statement saying that he could be physically killed.

Khodakovsky was repeatedly accused by the militants of the so-called DPR of "subversive activities in favour of Ukraine".

On 30 March 2023, he was appointed Deputy Head of the Main Directorate of the Russian Guard for the DPR by a presidential decree.