Anatoly Knyazev

"There is nothing that money cannot buy in this country."

- Anatoly to Oliver Queen about Russia.

Anatoly Knyazev is the leader of the Solntsevskaya Bratva, a former prisoner of the late Anthony Ivo and an old friend of Oliver Queen.

Biography
Oliver Queen, during his stay on Lian Yu, saved Anatoly from Anthony Ivo. In return, Anatoly made Oliver a captain of Solntsevskaya Bratva.

Prisoner on The Amazo
Anatoly was captured by Anthony Ivo and was forced to undergo their "trial" by digging out a bullet in their torso and stitching it up.

Some time after this, he met Oliver, and was quick to get along with. After Oliver escaped, he promised Anatoly he'd come back for the others. Later, right when Ivo was about to gouge out Anatoly's eye, Oliver set up an explosion for a trap, to allow him to be captured to feed Ivo misinformation to free the others. The plan succeeded and Anatoly and the others were freed. Upon returning to land, Anatoly was the first to notice Oliver's disappearance and they discovered Slade Wilson took Oliver prisoner. They later agreed to trade Oliver for an engineer they had and attempt to kill Slade with landmines but failed. Oliver and Sara then fixed a nearby submarine to destroy the Amazo in the event they failed to cure Slade of the Mirakuru. Anatoli waited for a time limit given to him by Oliver and relunctantly destroyed the ship, dragging Sara, Slade, and Oliver to their presumed deaths.

Season 2
Anatoly eventually met with Oliver to find information regarding the whereabouts of Lyla. They found out she broke into a gulag but evidently had trouble breaking back out. He later helped them break Lyla, Diggle, and Floyd Lawton out.

Personality
Due to his time on the island Anatoly developed a warrior's perspective, believing that living isn't for the weak, and was willing to hand Hendrick over to Slade for Oliver, as he knew Slade would kill Oliver but was less sure what he would do to Hendrick. His time under Ivo's torture and the island he also seemed to have developed a sadistic sense of humor, as he was perfectly willing to make Ivo suffer once he became his prisoner.

Despite his status as a mafia leader, Anatoly seems to be a man of honor, as he awarded Oliver Queen the rank of Captain in the Bratva, and therefore granting him access to its resources, for saving his life, even though it was extremely rare for an American to hold such a rank in the organization. Even Oliver stated that his relationship with the Bratva and Anatoly is an extremely valuable one. Anatoly holds Oliver in high regard, to the point he doesn't hesitate to help Oliver in anyway he can, and also takes an immediate liking to anyone Oliver vouches for. Anatoly is also shown to be a very considerate individual, as he was the first person who asked where Oliver was after escaping the Amazo. Anatoly also likes people with an unbreakable determination as he stated he took a liking to Diggle when he refused to deter from his mission to save Lyla from the Gulag, despite hearing how dangerous of a mission it is.

Anatoli is shown to be a very talkative person as Alexi learned from him Oliver went to Russia to break into a Gulag.

Abilities

 * Explosives expert: Due to the fact that he once worked for the KGB, Anatoly is an expert in explosives. In "Deathstroke", he knows how Russian and Japanese bombs work, Anatoly was also able to disarm a japanese land mine on Lian Yu, something that Slade and Diggle are unable to do.
 * Expert tactician/Leader: As the leader of the Solntsevskaya Bratva, Anatoly is a capable tactician and leader.
 * Expert marksman: As a former member of the Russian navy, Anatoly is skilled in the use of firearms.
 * Multilingualism: As a native Russian, Anatoly speaks that language fluently, in addition to English.

Behind the scenes

 * After Deadshot, Garfield Lynns and Dollmaker, KGBeast is the fourth member of Batman's rogue gallery to be included in the show. Although, he is the first one to appear as an ally.
 * In, he stated he once worked for the KGB, possibly referencing his supervillain alter ego and possibly hinting towards a possible appearance of KGBeast in the show.