During a session of parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the State Duma, issued the threat to the United States of America.
According to him if Russia’s assets are used to rebuild Ukraine after the war, he warned MPs to “keep an eye on Alaska.” He reminded the US that “we also have something to give back.”
He brazenly warned the US not to use seized Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine. Failure to heed this warning will result in Russia taking back Alaska.
The Russian Empire established several outposts in North America in the 18th and 19th centuries, the first and longest-lasting of which was in Alaska.
Tsar Alexander II sold the territory to President Andrew Johnson in 1867 for $7.2 million (approximately $144 million today), and it became a state in 1959.
Russia has always maintained that Alaska was theirs.
Oleg Matveychev in March 2022 demanded that the US return not only Alaska but also Fort Ross in California, a 19th-century settlement just outside of modern-day San Francisco.
