Posted on 07/19/2025 6:40:49 AM PDT by Ennis85
An American father who moved to Russia to avoid LGBTQ+ “indoctrination” for his kids is being sent to the front line in Ukraine, despite being assured he would serve in a non-combat role.
Derek Huffman, 46, feels he is being “thrown to the wolves” after being told that his job in the military would be as a correspondent or as a welder, his wife, DeAnna, said in a recorded plea for prayers, which has since been removed from her YouTube page.
Huffman has no prior military experience, DeAnna said, adding that his limited training was conducted in Russian. She suggested the language barrier has made her husband particularly unprepared for the horrors of combat.
“Unfortunately, when you’re taught in a different language, and you don’t understand the language, how are you really getting taught?” she pondered. “You’re not. So, unfortunately, he feels like he’s being thrown to the wolves right now, and he’s kind of having to lean on faith, and that’s what we’re all doing.”
Huffman joined the military in the hope of gaining Russian citizenship for his family through an expedited process. He also felt such service would allow him to “earn” the respect of his new countrymen, which is something he once said migrants in the United States refuse to do.
“The point of this act for me is to earn a place here in Russia,” he told Russian state media last month. “If I risk myself for our new country, no one will say that I am not a part of it. Unlike migrants in America who come there just like that, do not assimilate, and at the same time want free handouts.”
Undocumented migrants cannot join the U.S. military during peacetime. A program launched by former President George W. Bush allowed such immigrants to seek citizenship by serving in the military, but that pathway was shuttered during President Donald Trump’s first term.
DeAnna, 42, suggested her husband had been misled during the military recruiting process. She added that, after a month of service, her family had yet to receive any pay.
“When he signed up and had all of that done, he was told he would not be training for two weeks and going straight to the front lines,” she said. “But it seems as though he is getting one more week of training, closer to the front lines, and then they are going to put him on the front lines.”
Huffman moved his family to a village outside Moscow in spring. It was launched by American blogger Tim Kirby—who has lived in Russia for two decades—in 2023 to attract Americans seeking to escape the “liberal gender norm.” That project has been a flop, with United24Media reporting that only two families, including the Huffmans, have moved in.
Huffman, a native Texan, brought his wife, three daughters, and their family Husky, “Baby,” with him to Russia. The couple also have three sons from prior marriages who opted to remain in the United States.
Huffman’s admiration for Russia runs deep. The Russian state-operated news agency RIA Novosti reported last month that the couple honeymooned in Moscow.
“The city charmed us with its rich history, vibrant culture, and welcoming atmosphere,” DeAnna told the outlet. “Before that, we figured out whether moving to Russia would fit our family’s needs and values. However, it wasn’t until we saw Moscow in person that we truly felt a connection.”
DeAnna said that she was not surprised that her husband wanted to volunteer for the Russian military, even as it is in its third year of a bloody war with Ukraine. Ukrainian officials estimated this week that more than 1 million Russian soldiers have died in the conflict, which continues to rage on despite President Trump’s demands for peace.
”It didn’t come as a surprise to me,” she said of his joining the military. “He always spoke so highly of the country, its president, and its people, and he has a strong passion for doing the right thing.”
I find it hard to believe Russia would deliberately lie to this man. This must be a document mix-up.
“ Derek Huffman, 46, feels he is being “thrown to the wolves” after being told that his job in the military would be as a correspondent…”
So his recruiter lied to him? I guess that is a universal truth in all armies. LOL
No sympathy, moved to a dictatorship to avoid homosexuals, gets drafted into an army where male rape is not uncommon in basic training. Did not do his due diligence…
The U.S. Government needs to start keeping its boneheads on a leash. They go to galivanting around the world and always get themselves in trouble or they fall off a cliff taking a selfie. Idiots.
Isn’t that the job of a Military recruiter?
Feels like a propaganda piece to me.
LOL! All recruiters are the same. Good point.
So he wasn't conscripted, he volunteered.
My father told me at a young age that military recruiters lie; apparently Russia follows the American pattern on that.
Read the excerpt again.
BWAHAHAHAHA
You find it hard to believe a government, ANY government, would lie?!
That’s hilarious. OF COURSE they lied. It’s a government. All governments always lie.
And the Russian government... Even more so.
Wake up and smell reality pal. If any government tells you they won’t do X know with certainty X will happen, very soon.
Mr. Huffman, you need to discipline yourself and train up. Leave the “Oh me, Oh my, Oh . . .” behind.
There was a freeper thread on this idiocy.
Given it is from The Beast odds are it is a totally fabricated story.
he has a strong passion for doing the right thing.
—
So other than not checking out what a Russian promise “not to be sent to the front” means in reality, the first thing he did was join the side that is deliberately killing as many civilians and children as possible. Is that supposed to be ‘the right thing’?
🤡 first class 🏆
I’m with you on this one.
I find it hard to believe a recruiter would bend the truth.
Man's obviously an idiot, just like the US leftists who in the 20's and 30's emigrated to the "workers paradise" of the Soviet Union.
Alexander Gelver of Oshkosh, Wis., was taken there by his parents. But when the 24-year-old wanted to return to the U.S., he was stopped by Soviet police outside the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. He was arrested and disappeared. Only in the 1990s did his fate become clear: He was executed in 1938, one of Stalin's many victims.
The Associated Press documented the case of Gelver and 14 other Americans who disappeared in the Soviet Union in the 1930s and '40s. All were either imprisoned or executed. Dozens, perhaps hundreds of other Americans, met a similar fate during the rule of Stalin, who suspected that foreigners were spies.
If he wants to be a citizen of the country, why doesn't he learn the language?
No, its the Huffman family who are posting their idiotic life choices on X.
The Huffman Family (@HuffmanTime) / X
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