Russians flee to Alaska
Two Russians who said they fled their country to avoid compulsory military service have requested asylum in the United States after landing in a small boat on a remote Alaska island in the Bering Sea, says the office of Alaska US Senator Lisa Murkowski.
The US Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection agency said the two Russians arrived Wednesday on a small boat.
It did not provide details on where they came from, their journey or the asylum request.
Thousands of Russian men have fled since Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a mobilisation to bolster Russian forces in Ukraine.
Alaska’s senators, Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, said the two Russians landed at a beach near the town of Gambell, an isolated Alaska Native community of about 600 people on St Lawrence Island. Gambell is about 58km from the Chukotka Peninsula, Siberia.
Sullivan, in a statement, said he has encouraged federal authorities to have a plan in place in case “more Russians flee to Bering Strait communities in Alaska”.