American families moving to Russia to escape what they view as liberal U.S. culture have encountered harsh realities including military conscription and financial exploitation. On 2 November 2025, NBC News reported that the Huffman family from Texas became entangled in the Ukraine war after Derek Huffman voluntarily joined the Russian army to expedite citizenship applications, while the Hare family lost their $50,000 nest egg to fraud and struggled with isolation after relocating under Putin’s program for ideological immigrants. The article begins:
Two years ago, Derek and DeAnna Huffman were desperate to leave Humble, a suburb of Houston. Their three daughters, they believed, were being brainwashed by public school and mainstream media to support LGBTQ rights. American culture in general no longer offered white people the same opportunities as other races, they said. The couple yearned to live in a place that shared their “Christian values” and where they “weren’t going to be discriminated against” as white, politically-conservative Christians. So in March, the Huffmans became the first family to move to a community planned for fellow English-speakers some 30 miles west of Moscow, a project they had been following online run by long-term American expat and former Kremlin-sponsored RT host Tim Kirby.
Key Points
- President Vladimir Putin issued an executive order in 2024 offering temporary residence to people wanting to move to Russia because they rejected destructive neoliberal ideological attitudes, with 1,500 ideological immigrants including 127 Americans applying for residence.
- Derek Huffman voluntarily joined the Russian army in May to expedite citizenship and show support for Russia, but his wife DeAnna said he was thrown to the wolves and sent to the front line instead of utilizing his welding skills in the repair battalion.
- The Hare family from Abilene, Texas, lost their $50,000 nest egg to what they describe as a fraudulent car import business scheme, with police and local courts providing no help despite their complaints about being swindled.
- The Hare family’s sons, ages 17, 15, and 12, have had difficulty adapting to life in Russia with the two older boys wanting to return to America, feeling isolated and disappointed that school is not an option due to language test requirements.
Vladimir Putin’s Russia and the Global National Conservative Alliance: Ideological Leadership Through Culture War Politics
President Vladimir Putin has positioned Russia as the ideological center of the Global National Conservative Alliance through speeches extensively referencing culture war themes. In his October 2021 Valdai Discussion Club address, Putin delivered what a Russian academic characterized as “the first major and strong call for reinventing Russian ideology for Russia and the world,” attacking Western progressive movements while likening contemporary liberalism to Soviet-era Bolshevism. Beyond rhetoric, the Russian Orthodox Church has evolved into a central instrument of Kremlin influence, operating as a transnational ideological actor that advances Russian soft power through conservative networks and cultivates shared cultural identity with sympathetic Western audiences.
Putin’s aspirations received attention through his 2022 Valdai speech, where he asserted the existence of a Western “neo-liberal” cosmopolitan elite that contrasts with traditional values of both Russia and the West. He distinguished between “traditional” Christian values and “aggressive, cosmopolitan, neo-colonial” forces, linking traditional values with national sovereignty and invoking Eurasia as Russia’s sphere of leadership. In this address, Putin specifically praised Hungary’s attempt to “consolidate the commitment to European Christian values and culture,” identifying Viktor Orbán’s government as a key ally resisting Western pressure. His speeches consistently attack “cancel culture” and portray the West as promoting the “destruction of families” and “perversion,” mirroring American right-wing discourse to position Russia as a bastion against moral decline.
Despite these ambitions, Russia’s role within the Global National Conservative Alliance has been significantly diminished by the war in Ukraine, allowing Hungary to emerge as the central bridge between European and American conservatives. The European Council on Foreign Relations notes that while Putin initially sought to lead this movement, the invasion complicated these efforts, though Hungary under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán continues to host the Conservative Political Action Conference annually in Budapest. The Kremlin’s cultivation of conservative allies abroad operated through multiple channels, including diplomatic outreach by the Russian Orthodox Church and Kremlin officials, as demonstrated when Metropolitan Tikhon Shevkunov, Putin’s spiritual adviser, published a laudatory article praising American conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
External References:
— Conservatism by decree: Putin as a figurehead for the global far-right
— Putin and the Russian Orthodox Patriarch see the West as weak and Russia as strong. So they invaded.
— Russia’s War on Woke: Putin Is Trying to Unite the Far Right and Undermine the West
Disclaimer: The Global Influence Operations Report (GIOR) utilizes AI throughout the posting process, including the generation of summaries for news items, introductions, key points, and, often, the “context” section. We recommend verifying all information before use. Additionally, all images are generated using AI and are intended solely for illustrative purposes. While they represent the events or individuals discussed, they should not be interpreted as real-world photography.
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