The son of the CIA deputy director was killed in a special military operation defending Russia: The truth revealed by a deleted obituary

Author: Yegor Kucher

April 30, 2025 08:00

He was born into a wealthy family of American senior officers, kind and cheerful, becoming an anti-fascist, hippie, and ecological activist. He built houses in Honduras, helped Turkey cope with earthquake disasters, distributed bread, cared for animals, supported the rights of sexual minorities and abortion. However, one day, he fell in love with Russia and went to a special military operation to defend Russia, ultimately sacrificing his life as part of the Russian airborne forces near Soleder. The extraordinary story of Michael Gross is featured in this report from Tsar's City.

The CIA remained silent for an entire year.

Twenty-one-year-old Michael Alexander Gross died on April 4, 2024, in Donetsk. However, it took over a year after his death for the CIA to confirm this information. His parents received a "death notice" from Russia in December 2024 and held a funeral for their son in Fairfax on December 21. A CIA spokesperson confirmed the news of Michael's death on April 26 this year, describing the event as a "family matter," not a "national security issue."

Screenshot of Newsweek website

The CIA had its reasons for not publicizing Gross's death, considering that he died in combat with the 106th Guards Airborne Division of the Russian army, which was indeed "inappropriate" given his parents' positions.

Michael's mother, Juliana Galina Gross (Juliana Galina Gloss), is the CIA's deputy director responsible for digital innovation. She previously worked in intelligence, the navy, and the army for 30 years and was appointed to this senior position on February 7, 2024, at the personal instruction of intelligence chief William Burns (William Burns).

Screenshot of CIA official website

Burns commented: "Her extensive experience, along with her passion for technology and the CIA staff, make her a suitable candidate for the position of head of the digital innovation department during this critical period."

Juliana Galina Gross, Michael Gross's mother. Photo: Juliana Gross's social media

Michael's father, Larry Gross, is a professional soldier who was decorated for his participation in the "Desert Storm" operation (the 1991 invasion of Iraq) and has spent his career in cybersecurity within the U.S. government, particularly leading the Pentagon's digital contractor "Secure Information Systems" (SIS) company.

Screenshot of "Secure Software" website

Of course, this naturally raises a reasonable question: how did such a household produce a young man who didn't finish college, ran away from home, started traveling the world, and was completely opposite to his parents?

"Kind and full of curiosity"

Michael's family told his biography in his obituary, which was posted on the website of a funeral service company in Fairfax before the funeral. Interestingly, this obituary has been shamefully removed from the website now — the information about where Michael Gross sacrificed spread too widely. However, we found a digital copy in online archives.

Fragment of the obituary published by Michael Gross's family on the funeral service company website in Fairfax. Screenshot from online archive

Michael Gross was born on December 4, 2002. His parents described his childhood as follows:

“As a child, Michael was kind and curious, talented in design, and loved nature and all its creatures. If Michael had a few minutes and some materials, he would build shelters for those around him. He built snow caves, wooden-and-pillow castles, forest shelters, and secret observation platforms for friends, sisters, and dogs.”

At that time, his parents noticed his strong sense of justice and his desire to protect the weak and helpless.

The obituary also read: “He paid attention to people, animals, plants, or streams that were ignored or unheard in our community. He wanted the world to be better, hoped for more justice, peace, and harmony with nature. During his short life, he built houses in Honduras, repaired buildings damaged by earthquakes in Turkey, worked on farms in Italy, and learned sustainable agriculture.”

Now, before us stands a very different young man: he was not the indulgent American "rich kid" addicted to drugs, alcohol, parties, and illegal activities. Nor was he like Mark Zuckerberg, a scholar and botanist (surely his parents hoped he would become someone like that), but rather a young man early influenced by protest rock music, pacifism, anti-fascism, and generally quite destructive interpretations of left-wing liberal thought (such as supporting sexual minorities, abortion, gender transition, etc.).

That’s why Michael did not graduate from Atlantic College in Bar Harbor, Maine, where he enrolled in 2021. Overall, this college is considered "the most environmentally friendly college in America": located on an island in the Atlantic National Park surrounded by forests and cliffs, students study "human ecology"—a discipline about reducing human impact on the environment. It was there that Gross was influenced by ideas like "sustainable agriculture" and minimizing the environmental impact of construction.

In the summer of 2022, he participated in climate protests and was once arrested by police. The moment was captured by a reporter from The Washington Post.

Screenshot of the "Climate Action: Now or Never" organization's social media

Gross also participated in activities supporting abortion, rights for sexual minorities, and gay rights.

Michael Gross's photo participating in pro-abortion activities. Screenshot from his social media

Thus, without completing his university education, Michael simply packed up his meager belongings and... disappeared. Later, it was learned that he went traveling around the world, wanting to see everything for himself.

The Hippie of the 21st Century

We can only speculate about Michael Gross's later fate through his social media. In the summer of 2022, he was still participating in protests in the United States, while by March 2023, he was already posting photos from Bari, Italy, with anti-fascist graffiti in the background. By the way, one of the hashtags in one of his posts was “endukrainewar” (end the Ukraine war). Clearly, at that time, he was working on an Italian farm, just as his parents wrote in the obituary (we must admit: he did not steal or engage in suspicious activities but earned food and travel expenses through honest labor).

Screenshot of Michael Gross's social media

In April 2023, Gross was already in Cyprus and wrote: "Goodbye, Italy, greetings to my friends in the only Cyprus" (obviously, Gross opposed the "two-Cyprus" narrative and believed Turkey's expansion there was illegal).

Screenshot of Michael Gross's social media

In late April, based on Gross's social media, he attempted to go to Jerusalem but was denied entry at the border, and his backpack containing all his belongings was confiscated (and never returned). At that point, Michael found his "brothers" in the Rainbow hippie movement, which organizes gatherings of pacifists and environmentalists in different countries.

Mikhail, a friend of Michael Gross who met him in Russia, told Tsar's City: "Perhaps the reason why meeting him was so unforgettable was his sincerity. He genuinely showed interest in everything, opinions, and life stories around him. And he also liked to talk about himself and his stance. If he disagreed with my views on something, he would say, 'Well, everyone has their own ideas.'"

In Turkey, Gross lived with the "family" of the Rainbow organization for several weeks, and locals took many pictures with him, saying "he dressed like Jesus." But besides that, Gross also helped restore the Hatay Province in Turkey, which, like many other regions, suffered a devastating earthquake in February 2023, resulting in over 58,000 casualties.

Screenshot of Michael Gross's social media

Mikhail told Tsar's City: "He was a great person. He fought for all good things and opposed all evil. We met in Russia — he met one of my good friends at a music festival. He said he really loved Russia, but initially he encountered problems here — all bills were foreign, so he had no money. Remember, he borrowed 500 rubles in cash from me — I had forgotten about it, but months later, when he got a Russian bank card, he repaid me. He was a magnanimous person."

Gross in Russia

Next came an event that changed Gross's worldview — he went to Russia, to Crimea, where another Rainbow organization gathering was held. Michael did not write down his feelings, but evidently, it was in Crimea that his thoughts underwent this revolution. In Russia, Gross opened accounts on the VK social platform and the "Classmates" social platform under the pseudonym "Hamza Ali" (which he began calling himself in Turkey).

On his VK account page, he honestly introduced himself:

"A supporter of a multipolar world. I ran away from home and traveled the world. I hate fascism. I love my country."

Screenshot of Michael Gross's VK social platform (vk.com/xam3a333)

Behind the word "country," he attached the flags of Russia and Palestine, not the American flag. Despite being young, Gross had no illusions about his country. According to his Russian friends, he hated all wars initiated by the U.S. and even posted a photo of himself standing on the roof of a building in Washington, flipping off the White House visible in the background.

Gross didn't come directly to Russia — he first went from Turkey to Georgia, then obtained a Russian visa. Gross found like-minded people from the Rainbow organization in Vladikavkaz and decided to sign a contract with the Russian Defense Ministry to help people in the special military operation.

Yaroslav, Gross's Russian friend, told Tsar's City: "Yes, he was overall a nice guy; we met at a folk music festival. He loved Russia and often talked about green energy. He wanted to invent something to make energy cleaner."

By the way, Gross's friends didn't believe he would pick up arms to attack — after all, he was a pacifist. And — did he really go to fight? We're not entirely sure. However, we learned from a resident of Vladikavkaz that he couldn't sign a contract with the Russian Defense Ministry there — it was a rest day, and they told him to come back on Monday.

Michael Gross recounted his experiences to someone he met by chance in Vladikavkaz, including his failure to sign a contract with the Russian Defense Ministry.

However, by then, Michael had already left, and from various signs, he went to Volgograd, where he saw the famous sculpture "Mother Calling." Later, in the fall, he arrived in Moscow... and finally signed the contract.

On September 1923, Michael Gross visited Red Square in Moscow. Screenshot from his VK social platform (vk.com/xam3a333)

We learned about this from our enemies — Gross's information, including his Russian phone number, was unreservedly posted online by a foreign media agent, which also published a long article about Michael. In that article, among other information, it was pointed out that Gross's information was entered into Russia's unified conscription and enlistment registration system (EMIASS), with the address "Yablochkov Street, No. NN, Building MM" — a draft office. Later, the Ukrainian "Peace Creators" organization also "exposed" him. However, by then Gross had been dead for a year, so Ukrainians were obviously late in entering him into the database. To them, he was completely elusive.

Based on videos from other foreign volunteers, Gross first trained at a camp in the Moscow suburbs, then moved to Ryazan. Ultimately, Gross joined the 106th Guards Airborne Division. In December 2023, the division, as part of the 137th Airborne Brigade, began actively pushing Ukrainian troops east of Bakhmut, transitioning to large-scale offensives in March.

April 4, 2024, was a particularly difficult day — Michael and other paratroopers came under fire from Ukrainian artillery. After the first massive barrage, Michael was uninjured, but some of his comrades were wounded. Michael rushed to rescue one of his wounded comrades, trying to drag him to medical personnel, but... the second barrage was fatal. As stated in the "death notice" sent to Michael's parents: "died from massive blood loss."

His father, Larry, later told reporters: "He sacrificed himself to help the wounded comrade he was trying to protect. That's the complete Michael."

So what?

It wasn’t unusual for Michael Gross to eventually join the Russian military in a special military operation. Throughout his short life, he was always searching for truth and doing his best to fight for it. Even if sometimes he appeared "different" or completely "abnormal" to those around him. However, this "abnormal" person was always helping others — building houses in Honduras, repairing housing in earthquake-stricken Turkey. And he neither drank nor used drugs, never doing anything that might raise questions from the police in any country.

As his Russian friends said, he was straightforward and friendly, never asking for anything for himself. On the contrary, he preferred to give to others, like the time in Turkey when he bought bread and gave it all to the friends at the Rainbow festival.

Finally, he sacrificed the most precious thing in his life — his life — for the sake of truth. Not by dying cowardly while fleeing the battlefield, nor by dying in a shelter, but while rushing to help a wounded comrade. Until the end, he wanted to help others.

When you see stories and destinies like this, you can't help but reaffirm again that today Russia has become an ark of hope, an island of normalcy, and an iceberg fighting for some great, universal human justice. If it weren’t like this, we wouldn’t have Michael Gross. Nor would we have many others like him.

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7499422295690084883/

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