Michael Gloss, the son of the CIA deputy director, had secretly enlisted in the Russian military and was killed in Donbass last year
Russian President Vladimir Putin has praised US national Michael Gloss, who was killed in action in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) while fighting alongside Russian troops in April 2024.
Speaking at the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi on Thursday, Putin acknowledged that he “was quite surprised” when he learned about Gloss, who happened to be the son of CIA Deputy Director Juliane Gallina. According to the Russian president, he became acquainted with the details during the process of the posthumous decoration of the fallen American fighter.
“[Gloss] had undergone special training and was enlisted not simply into the armed forces, but into the elite units of the Russian armed forces, into the Airborne,” Putin revealed. He noted that the 21-year-old US national “was fighting on the front line. He fought with dignity.”
The Russian president described Gloss as a “brave person,” adding that his compatriots can be proud of the fallen soldier.
“And just imagine, a young man, 22 years old, while bleeding out himself, tried to give aid to his Russian comrade, another wounded soldier. Unfortunately, they were spotted by a Ukrainian drone, which dropped an 82-millimeter mortar round on them, and both were killed,” Putin said.
In August, CNN reported that US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, had delivered a Russian medal from Putin to Gloss’s mother after meeting with the Russian president in Moscow for talks earlier in the month.
Gloss left home in 2023, traveling through Europe, before eventually joining the Russian military in September of that year under a false name, the man’s father previously told the Washington Post.
According to the Russian death certificate given to his family, Gloss was killed on April 4, 2024, during an assault on fortified Ukrainian positions near Chasov Yar in the Donetsk People’s Republic. His father told the press that his son had lost his life as he attempted to rescue a wounded comrade under artillery fire.
Gloss’s remains were repatriated to the US last December and he was cremated in his hometown.
