In a chilling twist of fate, the son of a CIA deputy director met a violent end on a Ukrainian battlefield, fighting not for his homeland but for Vladimir Putin’s Russia—a secret kept from his family until a Russian news outlet unraveled the shocking truth.
Michael Alexander Gloss, 21, son of CIA Deputy Director for Digital Innovation Julianne Gallina and U.S. Navy veteran Larry Gloss, died April 4, 2024, from massive blood loss in an artillery barrage in Ukraine’s Donetsk region while serving in Russia’s 137th Airborne Regiment.
An investigation by Russian independent outlet iStories revealed that Gloss, who struggled with mental health issues and had stopped taking medication, signed a contract with the Russian military in September 2023.
He was then deployed to frontline assault units near Soledar by December.
His parents, unaware of his military involvement, learned of his death in June 2024 from the U.S. State Department and held a funeral in December.
Gloss, a Fairfax, Virginia native and former high school football player and left-wing activist, left home in January 2023, traveling to Italy for farm work, Turkey for earthquake relief, and Georgia for a Rainbow Family counterculture gathering.
He entered Russia in 2023, claiming to meet friends, but joined the military as his visa neared expiration.
On VKontakte, a Russian online social media and social networking service based in Saint Petersburg, Gloss described himself as “a supporter of the multipolar world” who “ran away from home” and hated “fascism.”
His social media page was reportedly filled with posts of Russian and Palestinian flags.
His father, Larry Gloss, said his son believed Russia would support his dream of building a water purifier for clean water access.
“It was absolutely news to us that he was involved in any military relationship with Russia,” the father told The Washington Post, attributing his son’s actions to mental illness. “He died running to aid a wounded comrade, trying to protect him. That was classic Michael.”
The CIA issued a statement calling Gloss’s death “an unimaginable personal tragedy” and a “private family matter,” not a national security issue, suggesting no further investigation.
Ralph Goff, a former senior CIA official, described it as “a great tragedy” for the parents, noting that while up to 3,000 Americans have fought for Ukraine, only a few have joined Russian forces.
According to an investigation by independent Russian media outlet Important Stories, over 1,500 foreigners have enlisted with Russia since February 2022, with Gloss among them, trained alongside Nepali recruits at a Russian camp in Avangard.
Gloss’s parents, who tracked his phone and grew suspicious, feared Moscow might discover his mother’s CIA role and use him as propaganda.
“Our biggest fear while we were waiting for him to be repatriated was that someone over there would put two and two together and figure out who his mother was, and use him as a prop,” Larry told The Washington Post.
Despite his anti-establishment views and anger at U.S. support for Israel, expressed during his time in Turkey, acquaintances told iStories he sought Russian citizenship through military service, not combat.
“If you knew our son, he was the ultimate antiestablishment, anti-authority young man,” his father said.
The family’s obituary, published in November 2024, omitted his Russian military ties, stating, “With his noble heart and warrior spirit, Michael was forging his own hero’s journey when he was tragically killed in Eastern Europe.”
Photos obtained by iStories showed Gloss in camouflage with Russian soldiers, a stark contrast to his father’s description of a “peacenik” who “wouldn’t hurt a flea.”
