A former U.S. military member now fighting for Russia against Ukraine is Wilmer Puello-Mota, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force. In January of this year, he was supposed to appear in a U.S. court but disappeared, only to resurface recently in Russia, having fled there via Turkey. According to Russian sources, he obtained Russian citizenship in just four months.

The reason for Wilmer Puello-Mota's escape was his involvement in the possession and distribution of child pornography. Had he remained in the U.S., he likely would have been imprisoned for many years and permanently registered as a "sex offender." Instead, he chose to flee to Russia, where the pedophile was granted Russian citizenship and given an officer's position in Putin's army.