Two Russian men who were detained after crossing the Bering Strait into Alaska claimed they were looking to seek asylum in the United States to avoid being drafted into the Russian military for the war in Ukraine, according to a senator representing the state.
Karina Borger, a spokeswoman for Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R), told the Associated Press on Thursday that “the Russian nationals reported that they fled one of the coastal communities on the east coast of Russia to avoid compulsory military service.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security told CNN that the two were taken to Anchorage and processed in accordance with immigration laws. The two men landed near the village of Gambell on St. Lawrence Island earlier this week.
TWO FOREIGN NATIONALS DETAINED IN ALASKA AFTER BOATING FROM RUSSIA
“We don’t anticipate a continual stream of individuals or a flotilla of individuals,” Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) said in a statement. “We have no indication that’s going to happen, so this may be a one-off.”
Murkowski criticized the lack of a federal response for immigration enforcement in the Arctic.
“We are actively engaged with federal officials and residents in Gambell to determine who these individuals are, but right now, we already know that the federal response was lacking. Only local officials and state law enforcement had the capability to immediately respond to the asylum seekers, while Customs and Border Protection had to dispatch a Coast Guard aircraft from over 750 miles away to get on scene,” Murkowski said in a statement. “This situation underscores the need for a stronger security posture in America’s Arctic, which I have championed throughout my time in the Senate.”
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The U.S. is the latest country to see Russians attempting to flee the “partial mobilization” ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin as the country continues to lose land in the Ukraine conflict.
Countries surrounding Russia, including Finland and Georgia, have seen an influx of Russians fleeing amid the war.
