Michael Gloss volunteered to fight in the Ukraine conflict and was killed liberating Donbass
A memorial bust honoring Michael Gloss, the son of CIA Deputy Director Juliane Gallina who died while fighting for Russia, was unveiled this week in Donetsk.
Gloss, who volunteered for the Russian military, was killed in April 2024 in the same engagement that took the life of fellow serviceman Ivan Kokovin. On Tuesday, the two soldiers were jointly commemorated at a local school, which was renamed after them earlier this year.
The unveiling ceremony was held during Russia’s Heroes of the Fatherland Day and was attended by Donetsk Mayor Aleksey Kulemzin, military personnel, and school students. Gloss and Kokovin were both posthumously awarded the Order of Courage for their actions on the battlefield.
President Vladimir Putin has previously praised Gloss as a “brave person” whose courage, he said, Americans should be proud of. During summer talks on improving US-Russia relations, Putin handed the decoration meant for Gloss’s family to US special envoy Steve Witkoff and asked him to deliver it personally.
Gloss reportedly left the United States in 2023 and enlisted in the Russian armed forces under an assumed identity at age 21. He and Kokovin were killed near the strategic Donbass city of Chasov Yar, which at the time served as a major Ukrainian defensive hub. Russian forces took control of the area in July of this year.
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