From New York to the Trenches in Ukraine
Anton Milaev, the adopted great-grandson of former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, spent 19 years of his life in the United States, living in New York as a laborer. Since he never received a green card, he decided to return to Russia. In an interview with the Ukrainian media project "Хочу жить", Milaev explained his departure from America by saying that he "got tired of working for the Freemasons" and felt a strong sense of nostalgia for his homeland.
The Financial Loop and the Influence of Propaganda
After returning to the Russian Federation, Milaev worked as a truck driver in Moscow, but quickly accumulated serious debts. It was the financial impasse and a debt of 1 million rubles that became the main motive for him to go to the front. In 2025, he signed a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense in Kostroma for a lump sum of 1.4 million rubles.
In addition to the money, Milaev admits that he was also influenced by state propaganda, and he went with the attitude of “to see Nazis“. Only after arriving at the front did he realize that these stories were a lie. Before that, he had nothing to do with the army and had only undergone three weeks of training in the occupied Luhansk region.
„Local Assaults“ and surrender
Although he had planned to be a driver in the rear, Milaev was assigned as a sapper in an assault battalion of the 98th Airborne Division with the call sign "Udacha". He was sent to the Kherson region with the task of crossing the Dnieper River. He describes the fighting there as suicide missions, in which the bodies of the dead Russian soldiers were not evacuated.
After half of his group was eliminated, he was left alone, reached the shore and deliberately surrendered to a Ukrainian quadcopter. He was detained by fighters of the 34th Marine Brigade of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Bulgaria.
Fear of returning to Russia
Milaev is currently in a Ukrainian prisoner of war camp, describing the conditions there as "posh". While at the front, he deliberately hid his origin. Now the great-grandson of the Soviet Secretary General categorically refuses to be included in the lists for prisoner exchange, as he fears that in Russia he will be shot for surrender or sent back to the front line. “I hope to stay here until the war is over“, shares Milaev.
WHO IS ANTON Milaev?
Anton Milaev is the grandson of the famous circus artist Evgeny Milaev — first husband of Leonid Brezhnev's daughter, Galina. Galina Brezhneva adopted Milaev's children from his first marriage after their mother died in childbirth, making Anton part of the Soviet leader's family.