A dad who moved his family to Russia from Texas to escape “woke” America has been sent to the front lines to fight against Ukraine.
Father-of-three Derek Huffman and his wife, DeAnna, uprooted their lives earlier this year after becoming concerned about LGBTQ+ teachings in their children’s school.
After searching for somewhere that aligned with their beliefs, the family decided to move to Russia and applied for the country’s “shared values” visa.
Highlights
- Derek Huffman, a Texas dad, moved to Russia to escape 'woke' America and was later sent to fight on the front lines in Ukraine.
- Huffman joined Russia's military expecting a safe, non-combat role but received minimal training and struggles with the Russian language.
- His family lives in an ‘anti-woke American village’ near Moscow, a project that has attracted only two American families so far.
Derek Huffman was sick of ‘woke’ America and relocated his family to Russia
Image credits: X
They relocated to a small settlement near Istra, about 25 miles west of Moscow, attracted by the promise of conservative, family‑oriented values.
The Istra settlement, part of a Kremlin-backed “anti-woke American village,” has largely failed to draw interest after it was backed by Tom Kirby, a U.S. born radio host who moved to Russia in 2006, United24 Media reported.
The project was aimed at people rejecting “liberal gender norms” in the U.S., and when it launched in 2024, it was thought thousands of Americans would seek haven there.
But of the planned dozens of homes, only two families, including the Huffmans, have moved in.
While Huffman was promised a non-combative position in the military—such as a war correspondent or a welder—to fast-track their citizenship, he has now been deployed to the front lines.
This is despite only receiving a limited amount of training that was delivered in Russian, a language Huffman struggles to understand.
His wife, DeAnna, says she feels like he’s been thrown to the wolves on their family’s YouTube channel, which is documenting their move to the former Soviet country.
“They are going to put him on the front line, so we are all praying really hard that he can actually be utilized for his skills and not just be put as a fighter,” she said in a vlog.
“He feels like he is being thrown to the wolves right now, and he is kind of having to lean on faith,” DeAnna added.
The family is petitioning public figures and politicians to intervene and remove him from the front lines.
According to the Daily Mail, the family had posted a link on their YouTube channel that directed followers to a Telegram page.
The group was named Save That Little Girls and featured a photo of DeAnna and her daughters crying in the street.
It was accompanied by the title: “We are asking the United States government to save this family.”
Huffman has been deployed to the front lines after receiving minimal training in Russian
Image credits: YouTube
Details on who created the Telegram page are not known.
It comes after Huffman sent his family an emotional message on Father’s Day, saying how much he loved them and that he was doing well, although he had “lost a few pounds.”
“I miss you all more than you can imagine. I can't wait to see you,” he added.
“Hopefully, I get a vacation at some point and I get to go home and spend a couple of weeks with you.
“But man, you're on my mind 24/7, and just know that what I’m doing is important to me and important to our family, and I will do whatever it takes to be safe and to come home to you."
“Take care of each other.”
In an older video, Huffman said he had made the decision to join the military so the family could obtain citizenship within the year, so he felt like he was contributing to Russia.
“A big part of it for me is about the respect and earning our place here in Russia, earning our citizenship,” he said.
When they arrived in Russia, the family was quickly embraced by state-affiliated media and had done several interviews detailing their move.
There are no official statistics confirming the number of Americans who have decided to fight for Russia, but U.S. intelligence suggests it is only a small number.
One prominent case was the son of a senior CIA official, Michael Gloss, 21, who was killed in Donetsk fighting for Russia in April 2024.
The small figures are in contrast to the reported estimates of over 1,000 Americans deployed to fight for Ukraine.
In 2022, it was estimated that 20,000 foreign fighters from around the globe had volunteered to join the International Legion for the Defense of Ukraine (UKR Legion) to fight against the Russian invasion.
Russia is expected to hit the 1 million casualty mark this summer, according to analysis from the U.S.-based Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS).
At least 250,000 Russian soldiers have died in Ukraine, with a total of over 950,000 Russian casualties, CSIS reported.