April 26 (UPI) -- U.S. citizen Michael Gloss, 21, died a year ago in Ukraine while a member of the Russian military and deployed in Ukraine.
Gloss was the son of CIA Deputy Director for Digital Innovation Juliane Gallina and Larry Gloss, who is a U.S. Navy veteran, the New York Post reported.
Larry Gloss attributed mental illness and a desire to create a water purification system in Russia to his son's enlistment in the Russian military.
"One of the manifestations of his mental illness was grandiosity," Gloss said of his son. "He always cared about the environment. He always wanted to take care of those disadvantaged [and] less able."
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He said Michael Gloss wanted to become a Russian citizen to pursue his desire to create an effective water purification system and viewed enlistment in the Russian military as the fastest way to earn citizenship there.
An obituary published on April 4, 2024, said Michael Gloss had a "noble heart and warrior spirit" and "was tragically killed in Eastern Europe," the New York Post reported.
After enlisting, he was assigned to Russia's 137th Ryazan Airborne Regiment, where he served alongside mostly Nepalese citizens who also enlisted in the Russian military.
A CIA spokesperson on Friday confirmed Michael Gloss died while fighting in Ukraine, but did not say for whom he was fighting, NBC News reported.
"CIA considers Michael's passing to be a private family matter for the Gloss Family [and] not a national security issue," the spokesperson said in a prepared statement.
"The entire CIA family is heartbroken for their loss," the spokesperson said. "Juliane and her husband shared that 'we adored our son and grieve his loss every moment.'"
Michael Gloss in social media posts made last year sympathized with Russia in what he called a "Ukraine proxy war."
He called news coverage of the Ukraine war "Western propaganda" and said Russia's military was "slaughtering" Ukrainian soldiers.
Gallina is a technology and cybersecurity expert who has worked for the CIA for many years and was promoted to her current post last year.
She is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and was the first woman to lead a brigade of midshipmen while enrolled at the academy.
