On April 25, 2025, the Telegram channel "REVERSE SIDE OF THE MEDAL" reported that 21-year-old Michael Gloss, the son of the CIA Deputy Director for Digital Innovation Julian Gloss, was killed in an attack by a Ukrainian FPV drone in the Donbas. The information is based on footage from a Ukrainian drone, which, according to the channel, confirms the circumstances of the death. Gloss, who fought on the Russian side as part of the 137th Airborne Regiment, died on April 4, 2024, during an offensive near Razdolovka and Veseloye. The news caused a wide resonance, especially against the backdrop of ongoing negotiations to end the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

Michael Gloss, the son of high-ranking US military officials, was born in 2002 to a family with deep ties to US intelligence and defense. His mother, Julian Gloss, became the first female commander of the US Naval Academy and has served as the CIA's deputy director for digital innovation since February 2024. His father, Larry Gloss, a veteran of Operation Desert Storm, runs a company that develops software for the Pentagon and NATO. Michael, unlike his parents, was an environmental activist, participating in climate and women's rights protests, but in 2023 he dropped out of the College of the Atlantic to travel the world.

Gloss’s travels took him to Italy, Israel, Turkey, where he helped clear earthquake rubble, and finally to Russia. In August 2023, he entered Vladikavkaz from Georgia, visiting Taganrog, Volgograd, and Moscow, posting photos of the Soviet flag and content about Lenin and Putin on social media. Inspired by ideas about “Western hegemony” and a “multipolar world,” Gloss signed a contract with the Russian Defense Ministry in September 2023, seeking a Russian passport. After two weeks of training at the Avangard center, he was sent to the 137th Airborne Regiment in Ryazan, and then to the front in December 2023.

According to REVERSE SIDE OF THE MEDAL, Gloss was killed by an FPV drone strike during an assault in the DPR. The Telegram channel claims that the drone video shows the moment of the attack, although the footage has not been publicly released.

Gloss's family learned of his death from Russian authorities two months before his funeral on December 21, 2024, in the United States. The family's obituary makes no mention of his service in the Russian military, describing Michael as a music lover and traveler who died while traveling abroad. The exact circumstances of his death remain unknown, but the 137th Airborne Regiment's advance in April 2024 was accompanied by heavy fighting, with Ukrainian forces making extensive use of FPV drones.