Michael Alexander Gloss, a 21-year-old American, was tragically killed on April 4th 2024. He was at the time fighting in Eastern Europe under contract with the Russian military. His death has spurred a lot of concern as to why he would have gone to fight in Ukraine. This is particularly interesting given his familial ties to a top-level U.S. intelligence official.
Gloss is the son of Juliane Gallina. As of February 2024, she is serving as deputy director for digital innovation at the Central Intelligence Agency. The Russian federal government notified Gloss’s family of his death, but his family received little information as to the manner of his death. Friends of Gloss told the New York Times that they were unsure why he would have been involved in the conflict.
“It was announced that he died within the borders of Ukraine,” a friend stated, while another added, “We do not know whether he participated in the war. They did not provide any other detailed information.”
In September 2023, Michael Alexander Gloss executed a contract with the military of the Russian Federation. He was then forward deployed with infantry assault battalions in December of that year. He’d been deployed within a Russian air assault regiment that had been given orders to storm Ukrainian fortifications in the Donbass town of Soledar. He had said when he was in Turkey that he wanted to get to Russia. As time went on, he grew more and more disillusioned with U.S. foreign policy.
Gloss cares deeply about the U.S. support for Israel and the escalation of violence in Gaza. This intensity of feeling apparently inspired his choice to enlist in the Russian army. Friends began to see that he was spending a lot of time watching Palestine related videos. This constant exposure almost certainly deepened his rage at U.S. actions abroad.
Michael was said to have had a noble heart and warrior spirit. He was decidedly on his own hero’s journey when tragedy hit in the early hours of April 4th, 2024 somewhere in Eastern Europe as his family commented in a statement after his death.
Prior to taking up arms with the Russian armed forces, Gloss was known as one of the loudest proponents for a multipolar world. On his social media VKontakte profile, he claimed to have “fled from home and roamed the world.” He spoke eloquently about his hatred of fascism and love for his country.
The complexities of Michael Alexander Gloss’s situation highlight the personal and political factors that can influence an individual’s decisions during tumultuous times. His decision to fight for a country that has historically been antithetical to U.S. interests makes his narrative more complex before and after his life and death.