To avoid going to war |
Two Russians flee to Alaska in mini-boat
To escape Putin’s merciless war, they risked their lives on the high seas.
A few weeks after the partial mobilization ordered by Russia’s war criminal Vladimir Putin against the Ukraine two Russians fled in a mini-boat almost 500 kilometers across the Bering Sea, known for towering waves and arctic storms, to Alaska.
The two Russian citizens arrived on Saint Lawrence Island in western Alaska. They landed on a beach near the town of Gambell, an isolated Alaskan Indian community of about 600 people.
The remote island of Sankt Lorenz lies in the middle of the Bering Sea, about 250 km southwest of the western tip of Alaska and almost 100 km off the eastern tip of Russia. The treeless island, which belongs to the US state of Alaska, is 140 km long and between 13 and 35 km wide.
According to two state senators, the two Russians arrived in a small sailboat on Tuesday. They did not give any specific information about their origin, their journey or their asylum application. However, they had applied for asylum in the United States, the spokesman for the authorities said.
According to local media, the men told villagers that they sailed their boat from the town of Egvekinot, on the Chukchi Peninsula in northeastern Russia. It is about 300 nautical miles (about 480 kilometers) from Sankt Lorenz. Other villagers said the men told them they were fleeing from the Russian military.
A spokesman for the US Department of Homeland Security told AFP that the two Russians’ cases would now be reviewed in Alaska’s capital, Anchorage, “in accordance with applicable US immigration laws.” The incident shows that “the Russian people do not want to take part in Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine,” said Senator Dan Sullivan.
However, it seems unusual for someone to attempt to cross into the US by this route. Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy said Wednesday when the first details of the situation emerged that he didn’t anticipate a steady stream of people traveling the same route. He also warned that travel in the region could be dangerous as an autumn storm with strong winds was expected.
In August, US authorities stopped 42 times undocumented Russians attempting to enter the US from Canada. However, it is more common for Russians to try to enter the USA via Mexico because there is no visa requirement there. The route here is usually the flight as a tourist from Moscow to Cancun or Mexico City and then a connecting flight to the USA.
On September 21, Russia’s warmonger Putin ordered the partial mobilization of 300,000 reservists to reinforce Russian troops in Ukraine. Among other things, this had led to a rush for tickets for international flights, as men of military age wanted to leave the country.