With his noble heart and warrior spirit Michael [Gloss] was forging his own hero’s journey when he was tragically killed in Eastern Europe,” his obit said.

A senior Central Intelligence Agency official’s son who had joined the Russian military was killed last year during an offensive in eastern Ukraine. The agency said it was a private tragedy and not a national security issue.

The CIA confirmed the death of Michael Gloss, the son of Juliane Gallina, after a Russian news site reported that he had signed up to serve with Russian forces.