Putin Ally Warns U.S. Russia Could Start Military Fight Over Alaska

Fresno CA

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Vyacheslav Volodin, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and chairman of the State Duma, the lower house of the country's legislature, issued a stark warning Wednesday that Russia has something to reclaim from the U.S.: the state of Alaska. "When they [U.S. lawmakers] attempt to appropriate our assets abroad, they should be aware that we also have something to claim back," Volodin said during a meeting with Russian officials on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press. Tensions between the U.S. and Russia have been mounting for months amid the ongoing war in Ukraine and the unprecedented sanctions that Western countries imposed in response to Putin's invasion. Russia has gone so far as to threaten a direct conflict with the U.S. and NATO, stoking fears that the war could spread beyond Ukraine's borders. Volodin's comments suggest that he could support Russia targeting Alaska in retaliation for freezing Russian assets, a move that could start a feared military confrontation between Russia and the U.S. Alaska was once part of Russia until the U.S. purchased the territory on March 30, 1867, for a price tag of $7.2 million, according to the Library of Congress. In reference to then-Secretary of State William H. Seward, some criticized the deal by calling it "Seward's folly" or "Seward's icebox," but criticism eased in the wake of the Klondike Gold Rush in 1896.