1/ 'Anti-woke' American Derek Huffman is the third Texan to move to Russian-held territory to fight against Ukraine. As his predecessors were kidnapped, tortured to death, blown to pieces and killed by Ukrainian forces, it seems unlikely that his fate will be any better. ⬇️
2/ Huffman is a 45-year-old former welder who moved with his family to Russia in May 2025 to "escape LGBT propaganda" in America. He joined the Russian army to get fast-track citizenship, but to his family's dismay, he has been sent to the front lines.
3/ Huffman is the third person from Texas to have joined Russian forces. His two predecessors, both self-declared communists, were killed – one by his own side, the other by Ukrainian attacks during an assault.
4/ Russell Bentley – dubbed the 'Donbass Cowboy' – travelled to Donetsk in April 2024 to join a local militia battalion fighting Ukrainian forces in the first stage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He married a local woman and settled in Donetsk.
5/ In April 2024, Bentley was abducted by Russian soldiers who believed he was a spy. He died under torture in an abandoned mine. To conceal their crime, the soldiers blew up his body with a block of plastic explosive. No remains have been recovered.
6/ Michael Gloss also died in April 2024. The son of a senior CIA official, he dropped out of university, went backpacking, and ended up in Russia intending to "defeat the military-industrial complex". He identified variously with communist, Islamic and environmental causes.
7/ He joined the Russian army in September 2023. On 4 April 2024, he was sent into an assault with the 137th Airborne Regiment near Soledar. He died the same day in unclear circumstances, but it's likely he was killed by artillery or a drone strike.
8/ Huffman has clearly not been granted any special favours, despite reports that he was promised a role in a rear area. It's likely that he too will be expended in a 'meat assault'; the life expectancy of Russian troops on the front line is often not long. /end
Sources:
🔹 thedailybeast.com/texan-moved-fa…
🔹 istories.media/stories/2025/0…
🔹 istories.media/en/news/2025/0…
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