Bolotov claimed to be a senior sergeant of the Soviet Airborne Troops in Vitebsk, (presumably the 103rd Guards Airborne Division) and between 1989 and 1990 participated in a number of conflicts, including those in Tbilisi, Yerevan and Karabakh. He later became the head of the airborne veterans group, while no one of the Luhansk Oblast group cell can confirm it. Bolotov was married and had two children.