(MENAFN) US special envoy Steve Witkoff delivered a Russian medal from President Vladimir Putin to CIA Deputy Director Juliane Gallina in honor of her son, Michael Gloss, who was killed while fighting for Russia in the Ukraine conflict. Gloss, 21, left the US in 2023, traveled through Europe, and secretly enlisted in the Russian military that September. He died on April 4, 2024, in the Donetsk People’s Republic, with his death certificate citing “massive blood loss” during an artillery strike while aiding a comrade. His remains were returned to the US in December and cremated.

Gloss was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage, a Russian honor recognizing acts of valor. Witkoff, who lost his own son in 2011, delivered the medal to the family, emphasizing the personal nature of the gesture and the hope for an end to the war. The CIA confirmed the loss was a private matter and not a national security issue.

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