Among these was Derek Huffman, a Texan father, professional welder, dedicated escapee of “woke America”–and the Kremlin’s latest sucker. After arriving in Russia earlier this year, he signed up for the Russian military to “earn a place” in the country, expecting a minor role in the repair battalion. Instead, he got sent to the front lines.
In a YouTube video uploaded in June but since taken down, his wife said Huffman was blindsided. “He feels like he’s been thrown to the wolves right now,” she explains. “Now, we are just believing in God that everything is going to work out.”
It may well be, however, that Huffman’s ecclesiastical conviction is what got him into this mess in the first place. Worried his three daughters were at risk of exposure to sapphic pedagogies in Texas, his move was but a dogged escape from “LGBTQ+ indoctrination.” In an interview with Russia Today, he explained: “The pivotal moment for us was when we learned that my daughter Sophia had heard about lesbians from a classmate. Even though she didn’t fully grasp the concept, it was enough for us to realize that we needed a change.”
The Huffmans subsequently moved to an “American village” near Moscow, created by American radio host Tim Kirby (who moved to Russia in 2006) as a safe haven from “liberal gender norms.” (The project has reportedly only attracted two families since launching last year, and is quickly crumbling at the expense of Kirby’s wallet.)
Now, Huffman is stuck fighting for a country whose language he does not speak–and trapped in a training procedure he does not understand. He has no experience as a soldier, and reportedly hasn’t been heard from since posting a video message on his family’s YouTube channel. Separately, it bodes poorly for him (and Russia) that he was sent to the front lines just two weeks after training. Though the country hasn’t addressed its official shortage of manpower, a report by the Center of European Policy Analysis from earlier this year suggests army recruitment is lagging behind the country’s military losses.
Nekrasov never got to finish his sarcastic poem, having died of cancer in 1878. It was a shame; his works were a big part of forming the Russian irony specific to the country’s literature, made up of dark humor and incredibly dry wit. However, while it’s facetious to say, there might be a horrible kind of satire to Huffman’s dedication to the Russian cause. “If I risk myself for our new country, no one will say that I am not a part of it,” he told Russia Today. Well, let’s see where that risk gets him, then.
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