Two Russians who said they fled the country to avoid military service in Ukraine have requested asylum in the US after landing in a small boat on a remote Alaska island.
Karina Borger, a spokesperson for Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, said in an email that the office has been in communication with the US Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection and that “the Russian nationals reported that they fled one of the coastal communities on the east coast of Russia to avoid compulsory military service”.
Thousands of Russian men have fled since President Vladimir Putin announced a mobilisation to bolster Russian forces in Ukraine.
While Putin said the move was aimed at calling up about 300,000 men with past military service, many Russians fear it will be broader.
The US Department of Homeland Security said the two Russians arrived on Tuesday on a small boat.
It did not provide details on where they came from, their journey or the asylum request.
It was not immediately clear what kind of boat they were on.
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Alaska’s senators, Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, said the two Russians landed at a beach near the town of Gambell, an isolated Alaska Native community of about 600 people on St Lawrence Island.
Gambell is about 320km from the western Alaska hub community of Nome and about 58km from the Chukotka Peninsula in Siberia.
Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy said he did not expect a continual stream or “flotilla” of Russians traversing the same route.
He also warned that travel in the region could be dangerous as a autumnal storm packing strong winds was expected.
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