Putin Ally Warns US that Russia Could Claim Back Alaska

The Speaker of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin warned the U.S. that Russia could demand Alaska back if the US continues to seize Russian resources abroad on Wednesday.

“Decency is not a weakness. We always have something [as] a response. Let America always remember that there is part of its territory, Alaska,” he said. “When they start trying to dispose of our resources abroad, before doing so, let them think that we also have something to claim back.”

Russia's Duma speaker Volodin is now threatening to take Alaska back from the US since, like Ukraine, it's also an ancestral Russian land: "America should always remember about Alaska. Before they seize our resources abroad, they must remember that we also have smth to take back" pic.twitter.com/X59YGvhCDG

— Tadeusz Giczan (@TadeuszGiczan) July 6, 2022

The Russian politician referred to a threat he made earlier to denounce a maritime treaty between Norway and Russia after some shipments were blocked from traveling through Norway’s waters, saying that Norway then allowed the shipments to go through.

“Imagine if we also instructed [about Alaska]—you look, and America would start supplying fish where it should be,” said Volodin, according to RIA Novosti.

Volodin also stressed that Russia does not interfere in America’s affairs, saying that American politicians have been blaming Russia for everything that is happening in the country.

The US purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867

Russia colonized Alaska and established several settlements there until the U.S. purchased it from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million.

What is now Alaska has been home to various indigenous peoples for thousands of years; it is widely believed that the region served as the entry point for the initial settlement of North America by way of the Bering Strait land bridge.

The Russian Empire was the first to actively colonize the area beginning in the 18th century, eventually establishing Russian America, which spanned most of the current state.

The expense and difficulty of maintaining this distant possession prompted its sale to the U.S. in 1867 for US$7.2 million (equivalent to $140 million in 2021), or approximately two cents per acre ($4.74/km2).

The area went through several administrative changes before becoming organized as a territory on May 11, 1912. It was admitted as the 49th state of the U.S. on January 3, 1959.