During the annual meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke about the exploits of the son of CIA Deputy Head Michael Gloss in the special operation zone.

According to Putin, he found out about this story when a draft order was received to award Gloss the Order of Courage. The president added that Gloss’s mother is the current deputy director of the CIA, and his father is a Navy veteran and the head of one of the Pentagon’s largest military contractor companies.

“He fought with dignity. He was seriously wounded and, together with his other comrade, a Russian, a third comrade pulled them out, received burns on 25% of his body. And this young guy himself (Gloss), bleeding out, tried to help his Russian comrade-in-arms. Unfortunately, a Ukrainian drone spotted them, dropped an explosive, and both died,” the president said.

In August, US presidential special envoy Steve Witkoff handed over to the family of CIA employee Julian Gallina the Order of Courage, which Putin presented to him during his visit to Moscow. The award was intended in memory of her son, who died in 2024 on the side of Russia during the fighting in Ukraine.

According to CBS News, 21-year-old Michael Gloss died on April 4, 2024 on the territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic from heavy blood loss, saving a wounded colleague. He previously traveled to Europe in the summer of 2023, and joined the Russian army in the fall of the same year without notifying his family. He was sent into the special operation zone in December.

CBS sources noted that there were no signs of Gloss’s recruitment by the Russian authorities. The Kremlin did not know about his family ties during the repatriation of the body.

The CIA confirmed that the Gloss family had suffered an “unimaginable personal tragedy” and asked for their right to privacy to be respected.