An American with many children, Derek Huffman, who went to fight for He SMO Russia, addressed Russian President Vladimir Putin and thanked him for granting Russian citizenship.
A volunteer from the United States told the TASS news agency that it was a great honor for him to officially become a citizen of Russia, and he feels proud about it.
"I want to thank President Putin, Russia, the Russian people, who supported me and my family so much and welcomed us with open arms. I just want to say thank you," the serviceman said.
He noted that our country has accepted him and his family. The American applied for citizenship before he went to serve in the army. The soldier learned that he and his family would become Russian citizens during their vacation.
Huffman moved to Russia from the USA in 2025. He signed a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense and continues to serve in the SMO zone. He and his wife have three daughters aged 10, 11 and 12.
In 2022, they decided to move from Arizona to Texas, because they were embarrassed by the influence of LGBT propaganda*, but soon this became the norm for all states, so the family left the country.
Earlier, EADaily reported that foreign mercenaries of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from The United States and Romania.
*Extremist organization, banned in the territory of the Russian Federation