The CIA verified the death of Michael Gloss, 21, following a report by a Russian news site stating that he had enlisted to join Russian forces.
The son of a senior Central Intelligence Agency official died last year “while fighting in the conflict in Ukraine,” a CIA spokesperson said Friday.
The spokesperson confirmed the death of Michael Gloss — who is the son of Juliane Gallina, the CIA’s deputy director for digital innovation — after a Russian news site reported that the 21-year-old American had signed up to serve with Russia’s forces.
The CIA spokesperson said Gallina and her family “suffered an unimaginable personal tragedy in the spring of 2024 when her son Michael Gloss, who struggled with mental health issues, died while fighting in the conflict in Ukraine.”
But the statement did not say which side Gloss was fighting for at the time.
“CIA considers Michael’s passing to be a private family matter for the Gloss family — not a national security issue,” the spokesperson said. “The entire CIA family is heartbroken for their loss.”
“Juliane and her husband shared that ‘we adored our son and grieve his loss every moment. We appreciate privacy at this difficult time.’” the spokesperson added.
In social media posts last year, Michael Gloss shared a photo of himself smiling in Moscow’s Red Square and expressed sympathy for Russia’s war effort against what he called “the Ukraine Proxy war.”
He wrote that news coverage of the war, which he called “western propaganda,” was concealing the reality of a conflict in which an allegedly corrupt Ukrainian military was no match for Russian troops.
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