A father who fled "woke" America with his family to Moscow has been sent to the front line - despite having no fighting experience and limited Russian language skills.
Derek Huffman, 46, moved to Istra, a small town around 25 miles from Moscow, earlier this year with his wife, their three daughters, and their husky dog.
Huffman had originally agreed to join the Russian military in a "non-combat role", believing he would be a welder, and then a war correspondent.
However, according to his wife, he has now been sent "near" the front line of the war with Ukraine.
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|Derek Huffman has been sent 'near' the front line, according to his wife
DeAnna Huffman said in a video uploaded to her family's YouTube channel that he had only received a minimal amount of training, and that it was in Russian despite his limited understanding.
She said: "Unfortunately, when you're taught in a different language, and you don#t understand the language, how are you really getting taught? 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."
No new images or videos have been seen of Mr Huffman since June, when he appeared in a one-minute video addressing his family to mark Father's Day in the US.
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|The family moved to Russia under Vladimir Putin's scheme which aims to attract foreigners who reject 'destructive neoliberal ideology'
Dressed in camouflage and military gear, he said: "I miss you all more than you can imagine.
"I can't wait to see you, 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.
"Just know I will do whatever it takes to be safe and to come home to you. Take care of each other."
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REUTERS
|PICTURED: Ukrainian troops on an exercise on the front-line, near Donetsk
The family have said he is "doing fine".
However, a link on their YouTube channel, which has since been deleted, directed users to a Telegram group titled "Save that little girls", which was "asking the United States Government to save this family".
Attached to the group was a photo of Mrs Huffman and her daughters crying in the street.
It is unclear if the group was created by the family, who moved to Russia through the country's "shared values" visa scheme which aims to attract foreigners who reject what Vladimir Putin calls "destructive neoliberal ideology".
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Their relocation to Russia was prompted when they became dissatisfied with what they saw as progressive outreach in the American education system.
The Huffmans were disturbed when their daughter Sophia was told about lesbians at school.
"The final straw was when we found out my daughter Sophia learnt about lesbians from a girl in her class," Mr Huffman told Russia Today.
"She didn't fully understand it, but for us, that was enough to realise something had to change."
Since their arrival in Russia, the family have been featured in several state-affiliated media outlets, where they described their move as a rejection of Western cultural values.
The Huffmans settled in an "American village" in Istra created by US expat and blogger Tim Kirby, who has lived in Russia for two decades.
The settlement was founded in 2023 as a refuge for Americans fleeing what Kirby described as "liberal gender norms".