Two Russian citizens were rescued Tuesday by the US Coast Guard on Alaska's remote St. Lawrence Island, where they arrived by boat after fleeing their country to avoid being drafted into the Russian army to fight in Ukraine. Alaska Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan confirmed Thursday that citizens have applied for asylum in the country.
The Russians arrived Monday night at a beach on the island located in Gambell Township and were assisted by residents, until the Coast Guard arrived the next day with Customs and Border Protection officials.
“This incident makes two things clear: First, the Russian people do not want to fight Putin's war of aggression against Ukraine. Second, given Alaska's proximity to Russia, our state has a vital role to play in ensuring the national security of the United States."
Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy confirmed the news, saying this is a "unique" case. “We don't anticipate a stream of people, there's no indication that's going to happen,” he stated. St. Lawrence is an island in the Bering Sea, located west of the Alaska Peninsula, south of the Bering Strait. It is part of the state of Alaska, but it is closer to the Russian coast than to the American continent.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on September 21 the mobilization of at least 300,000 people, which caused an exodus of thousands of men from the country.
Some media have placed this exodus at 700,000 people, a figure that the Kremlin has rejected as exaggerated. Russian democratic media have spoken of a figure close to 200,000. Russians have fled to countries like Georgia and Kazakhstan, and in smaller numbers to Mongolia. Finland was another of the preferred destinations until this Nordic country decided to restrict the entry of Russian citizens.
