Two Russians who has stepped onto a remote area of rural part of Alaska are looking for asylum in the United States. Politicians from the far northern state said on Thursday.
The pair have landed just weeks following Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an unpopular mobilization of citizens to turn the tide on his faltering invasion of Ukraine.
In a joint statement from senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan said that, “Two Russian nationals landed at a beach near Gambell, located on the northwestern tip of St Lawrence Island in Alaska, and requested asylum in the United States.”
The spot is just a few dozen miles from the tip of Russia’s far eastern region.
Meanwhile, a spokeman for the U.S. Department for Homeland Security said the two Russians, whom it did not identify, arrived on a small boat.
Their cases are being reviewed “in accordance with applicable U.S. immigration laws,” he said.
The arrival of two people from Russia makes it clear that “the Russian people don’t want to fight Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine,” said Sullivan.
President Putin ordered last month a partial mobilization to reinforce his army in Ukraine, calling up around 300,000 reservists.
The shock announcement led to a rush on air tickets as men of military age scrambled to leave the nation.
As discontent spiked in Russia, the Russian president has acknowledged at the end of September that “mistakes need to be corrected,” asking to “bring home those who were summoned without proper reason.”