STORY UPDATED: check for updates below.
Was American Derek Huffman killed in a drone strike while fighting for the Russian military in Ukraine in July 2025? A YouTube account used by his wife claimed in a comment that Huffman is alive and well. Another American acquaintance of Huffman also told Lead Stories that Huffman is alive, but definitive proof was not immediately available. Here's what we know so far.
The claim appeared in an article (archived here) published by "The Maltese Herald" on July 23, 2025, with the headline:
Derek Huffman confirmed killed by a drone strike.
The article began:
Derek Huffman, the US citizen from Texas, has been confirmed killed on the Ukrainian front lines by a drone strike. Footage of his death is available and is being circulated online. Derek Huffman fled to Russia with his wife to escape what they described 'Joe Biden's LGBT indoctrination'. They also took with them their three young daughters aged between 10 and 13 years old.
This is what the article looked like at the time of writing:
(Image source: Screenshot of a July 23, 2025, post on themalteseherald.com)
On July 23 and July 24, 2025, @HuffmanTime -- the account on YouTube used by Huffman's wife, DeAnna -- wrote (archived here) in the comment section below a June 15, 2025, video, that Huffman was at that time in the Russian army, but alive and well:
(Image source: Screenshot of a July 23 comment by youtube.com/@HuffmanTime)
(Image source: Screenshot of a July 23 comment by youtube.com/@HuffmanTime)
On July 24, 2025, the Maltese Herald (archived here) published an update that mentioned those YouTube comments.
Tim Kirby, who initially helped the Huffman family find housing in Russia (archived here), told Lead Stories via Telegram on July 24, 2025:
Derek is alive.
Answering follow-up questions about the sources of his information, he said:
I talk to DeAnna often. And his lawyer.
Kirby told Lead Stories that he last spoke to Huffman's wife "two days ago" (that is, on July 22), and that "Derek was alive and transferred to military service in line with his expectations and terms of his contract".
Replying to Lead Stories via email on July 25, 2025, a U.S. State Department spokesperson referred to the question at the center of this article as "unconfirmed media reports of a U.S. citizen killed in Ukraine", said that the agency was aware of such "unconfirmed reports" and added that the U.S. State Department had "nothing further to share at this time."
Lead Stories additionally contacted the Russian Embassy in the United States, but did not receive an immediate response. If we get more information, this article will be updated as appropriate.
Derek Huffman's family attracted public attention (archived here) after they moved from the United States to Russia and expressed a desire to serve in the Russian army (archived here). Earlier July 2025 reports (archived here) suggested that he was disappointed by the amount of training he received before purportedly being sent to the frontlines.
Updates:
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2025-07-25T18:45:57Z 2025-07-25T18:45:57Z Adds a comment from the U.S. State Department
