Derek Huffman Flees Texas for Russia, Then Is Sent to Fight Ukraine Front Lines

Derek Huffman, 46, moved with his wife, three daughters and their husky from the Texas area to Istra, a town about 40 chilometri da Mosca, after entering Russia through the program of visti “valori condivisi” and later accepted to arruolarsi nell’esercito di Mosca as a non-combattente.

“AGI – Si era trasferito dal Texas in Russia con tutta la famiglia per sfuggire all’America “woke” e si è ritrovato a combattere al fronte inUcraina”

AGI

In the account given by his wife Anna, Huffman believed he would remain in the retrovie, but without experience militare and with a limited knowledge of Russian he was “mandato al fronte, in prima linea a combattere l’esercito ucraino.”

BBC

Il Fatto Quotidiano says the family had been drawn by a “villaggio americano” in Istra founded in 2023 by Tim Kirby, and that the move followed an incident at their daughter’s school involving omosessualità.

AGI adds that Huffman had arrived in Istra at the start of this year and that his wife DeAnna said he felt “gettato in pasto ai lupi” with addestramento limited impartito in russo.

The family’s last contact came in June, when Huffman sent a video with mimetica ed equipaggiamento militare, and “Da allora di lui non si hanno più notizie.”

Anna Huffman told La Stampa that “he was thrown to the wolves, without adequate training,” and she said she relies on her faith while noting that “my husband does not speak Russian, so I don't know how his training could have gone”.

BBC describes how the Shared Values visa, introduced a month after Leo Hare was granted asylum and by President Vladimir Putin in 2024, offers temporary residency for up to three years to citizens of 47 countries Russia considers “unfriendly,” with no limit on the number of people who can apply.

Il Fatto Quotidiano

BBC says applicants must declare that they share Russia’s traditional spiritual and moral values and reject what the Russian government describes as the “destructive neoliberal ideology” of their home countries, and that applicants do not need to pass the usual Russian language, history or law tests.

In the Huffman case, AGI reports that DeAnna questioned what can be learned when “quando ti insegnano in una lingua diversa e non la capisci, cosa impari davvero?”.

BBC also notes that after three years, those on the Shared Values visa must either convert it into a Permanent Residence Permit (PRP) or leave the country, and that the PRP requires people to sit a language and history exam and more thorough documentation.

BBC frames Huffman’s story as part of a broader migration, saying a few thousand people from countries including Canada, Britain, the United States and parts of Europe are choosing to move to Russia as Russia faces international isolation.

“Trasferito dal Texas in Russia per fuggire dalla cultura “woke”, è stato invece mandato al fronte a combattere contro l’Ucraina”

Il Fatto Quotidiano

It says the visa reflects a broader effort by the Kremlin to present Russia as a defender of traditional values in opposition to what it sees as the moral decline of the West, and it cites a 2022 decree in which Putin warned that Western ideological influence threatened Russian values including marriage and the traditional family.

Il Fatto Quotidiano reports that Derek Huffman’s decision was tied to what he and his family saw as the spread of “woke” ideology in the United States after a school incident involving a classmate talking about omosessualità to Sophia.

AGI adds that Huffman had been convinced by a trip to Mosca in maggio 2023 that Russia offered “valori tradizionaliche cercavano,” describing the city as “più pulita, piu sicura e piu ordinata”.

Across the accounts, the immediate stakes for the family are stark: Huffman’s last message in June showed him in camouflage and military equipment, and “Da allora di lui non si hanno più notizie,” while BBC says the Shared Values visa can run for up to three years before requiring a Permanent Residence Permit or departure.