US airman fights for Russia to avoid child pornography charge

Wilmer Puello-Mota was due in court when he fled the US to join war against Ukraine

A US war veteran who fled his country facing a child pornography charge is fighting for the Russian military in Ukraine.
Wilmer Puello-Mota has joined the Kremlin’s invasion force as a drone operator, according to a five-minute propaganda video released by Moscow.
The 28-year-old was described as an “American with Russian citizenship” and a “former American citizen”.
“I’m Will, I’m from Massachusetts,” Puello-Mota said on film. “My call sign is ‘Boston’.”
“I don’t consider myself a traitor,” he added.
Puello-Mota was set to plead guilty to possessing child pornography and other charges at a Rhode Island court on Jan 9.
Facing at least five years in prison, he reportedly fled to Russia via Turkey, because direct flights were cancelled shortly after Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine.
“I’m from Boston, Massachusetts, and I served 10 years in the US Air Force, some years in the Massachusetts International Guard, and I did two years as a city councillor,” Puello-Mota said, dressed in Russian combat gear.
He served in the US Air Force and was deployed in Afghanistan in 2015, NBC News reported.
He was pictured providing security at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul the same year.
Puello-Mota later joined the Massachusetts Air National Guard’s 104th Fighter Wing as an airman, ending his service in 2022.
Before quitting the armed forces, Puello-Mota became a member of Holyoke city council in Massachusetts, where he was aligned with conservative council members who supported Donald Trump, the former US president, according to the Boston Globe.
However, midway through his term in office the city tried to remove him when it emerged he had been arrested in 2020 in possession of nude photos and videos of a 17-year-old girl.
He had allegedly gone to meet the girl at a hotel in Warwick, Rhode Island.
He was also charged with obstructing the judicial system, forgery and counterfeiting.
Puello-Mota made no reference to the criminal charges but appeared to suggest politics had acted as his motive to leave the US.
“When I got involved in politics, I zoomed out into the international level of politics, and you really stop and pause and think about what’s going on here,” he said. “You feel like you have to do something about it.”
He blamed the US for triggering Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and claimed he had a girlfriend in Russia.
Tessa Murphy-Romboletti, the president of Holyoke city council, confirmed it was Puello-Mota in the video.
“I can confirm that it appears to be Will in the video,” she told NBC News.
John M Cicilline, his lawyer, said his client’s political ambitions had been ruined by the charges levelled against him.
“I’m sure he joined the Russian army because he didn’t want to register as a sex offender,” said Mr Cicilline.
The propaganda footage is the first confirmation that Puello-Mota has joined the Russian armed forces.
Rumours had circulated about his whereabouts since the fall of Avdiivka, when a man, his face blurred, posed with an American flag in what appeared to be the ruined remains of the Ukrainian city.
In April, Russia released more footage of a man who appeared to be Puello-Mota at an army recruitment office, but only identified him as a former US serviceman named “Will”.