Russian President Vladimir Putin handed the U.S. envoy a medal for a 21-year-old American who was killed fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine.
The award, the Order of Lenin, was handed to President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, during a sit-down in Russia last week, CBS News reported. It will be delivered to the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) deputy director for digital innovation, Juliane Gallina, whose son, Michael Gloss, died in Ukraine in 2024.
Established in 1930, the Order of Lenin was the Soviet Union’s highest civilian honor, awarded to individuals, institutions, and groups who contributed significantly to national defense or socialist ideals. It has previously been bestowed on high-level spies, including Kim Philby, the infamous British double agent, CBS reported.
A CIA spokesperson confirmed Gloss’s death in April after a Russian news site reported that the 21-year-old American had volunteered to fight for Moscow.
In a statement to NBC News at the time, the CIA 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.”
“CIA considers Michael’s passing to be a private family matter for the Gloss family—not a national security issue,” the spokesperson told NBC. “The entire CIA family is heartbroken for their loss.”
An obituary published by the family said only that Gloss died “while traveling in Eastern Europe” and made no mention of Russia or the war.
“With his noble heart and warrior spirit, Michael was forging his own hero’s journey when he was tragically killed,” it reads. “He wanted the world to be a better place with more fairness, peace, and harmony with nature.”
On Instagram in 2023, Gloss posted photos from Russia and referred to the invasion of Ukraine as “the Ukraine proxy war,” accusing U.S. media of spreading “Western propaganda.”
CBS News reported there was no indication that Gloss had been recruited by the Russian government and that the Kremlin did not appear to know his CIA connection when it repatriated his remains.
Putin’s calculated move comes days before his scheduled meeting with Trump in Alaska to discuss ending the Russia-Ukraine war.
Friday’s meeting will mark Putin’s first visit to the United States since 2015—and his first in-person meeting with Trump since the end of his first term. The two have, however, had several calls as Trump pushes to broker a peace deal.
Trump said Monday that his expectations for the meeting are low, noting that he has had “great calls” with Putin only to end up disappointed when Russia continued to strike Ukraine.
“I’m going in to speak with Vladimir Putin, and I’m going to be telling him, ‘You got to end it,’” Trump said.
The president also lashed out at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during his scattered press conference on Monday, criticizing him for requiring constitutional approval before finalizing any agreement that would cede territory.
“He’s got approval to go into war and kill everybody, but he needs approval to do a land swap?” Trump said.
Trump again floated a deal that would include territorial concessions to Russia, a proposal he has repeated without offering details on what land would be exchanged or what Moscow is willing to give in return.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the CIA for comment.
