In response to increased Russian military activities near Alaska, the US military has bolstered its presence in the region by deploying a destroyer, stationing an Army unit with long-range missile capabilities, and placing fighter squadrons and other aircraft on high alert.
In recent weeks, the US Navy destroyer USS Sterett has been stationed off the Alaskan coastline to counter Russian naval vessels’ maneuvers in the area. The US Army has also deployed troops to a remote island in Alaska to increase military readiness.
Additionally, fighter squadrons and other aircraft based in Alaska have been placed on heightened alert in response to repeated intercepts of Russian surveillance planes near US airspace, according to Politico.
These deployments and alerts coincide with the launch of a large-scale joint Chinese and Russian military exercise, Ocean 2024, in the Sea of Japan. This exercise, involving dozens of warships and over 120 naval aircraft, has further escalated regional tensions and prompted the US to bolster its defensive posture.
As previously reported by the EurAsian Times, approximately 130 soldiers from the US Army’s 11th Airborne Division, along with the 1st and 3rd Multi-Domain Task Forces, have been deployed to Shemya, one of the US-controlled Aleutian Islands located around 1,200 miles west of Anchorage.
These deployments, initially planned as part of regular exercises, have gained new significance in the context of the heightened military activities in the region.
The forces on Shemya are equipped with High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) sourced from Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington and advanced radar systems capable of tracking aerial threats.
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The USS Sterett, which left its home port in San Diego earlier this month, has recently docked at Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands, roughly 1,100 miles southwest of Anchorage. This rarely used port is strategically located for operations in the Bering Sea.
The US Northern Command has also confirmed that the Sterett was deployed to support the Maritime Homeland Defense mission in response to Russian naval exercises in the area.
US Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) has also voiced significant concerns over the uptick in Russian and Chinese military activity near Alaska. As a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sullivan has been advocating for enhanced military infrastructure in the state to counter these threats.
He highlighted the growing frequency and scale of joint Russian-Chinese operations, which include air, surface, and subsurface assets.
“The tempo has gone way up,” Sullivan said. “The number of assets have gone way up. It’s air, surface, and subsurface that the Russians are employing, but they’re doing it much more in a joint capacity with China than they’ve ever done. They’re clearly escalatory.”
Russian Military Activity Near Alaska
Following Russian aircraft operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) for a week, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) recently reported increased Russian military activity near Alaska.
Russian military planes were detected on September 11, 13, 14, and 15, highlighting a persistent pattern of Russian military presence in the region.
The Alaska ADIZ is a designated area that does not fall within US airspace but requires foreign aircraft to identify themselves when entering.
This zone’s purpose is to act as a buffer between US defense forces and potential threats, preventing unidentified or uncooperative aircraft from approaching US borders without being noticed.
NORAD has reported that similar intercepts typically occur six to seven times annually; nonetheless, the number of occurrences has been increasing: 26 interceptions were reported in 2024, compared to 25 in the previous year.
Meanwhile, in July, NORAD intercepted Russian and Chinese bombers operating just 200 miles off Alaska’s coast. Marking a significant escalation, it was the first instance of joint military operations involving assets from both nations.
Launched from the same Russian air base, these aircraft highlighted the deepening military cooperation between Moscow and Beijing, which is increasingly perceived as a strategic alliance meant to challenge US and allied interests.
Russian military forces are not limited to the air domain; they are also present close to US territory. Last week, the US Coast Guard reported that its homeland security vessel, the 418-foot Stratton, was conducting routine patrols in the Chukchi Sea when it encountered four Russian Federation Navy vessels approximately 60 miles northwest of Point Hope, Alaska.
The Russian flotilla included two submarines, a frigate, and a tugboat. They had temporarily crossed into US waters to avoid sea ice, a maneuver allowed under international maritime laws and customs.
While legally permissible, the incident also reflects a growing Russian naval presence in the Arctic, an area of increasing strategic importance due to its untapped resources and emerging shipping routes as ice caps continue to melt.
As the Arctic’s ice melts and becomes more navigable, making it more accessible, it is expected to attract even greater attention from global powers eager to secure access to its rich reserves of oil, gas, and minerals.
This competition is particularly acute between the United States and Russia, whose territories are separated by a mere 53 miles at the narrowest point of the Bering Strait.
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Russia Wants Alaska Back!
Nationalist sentiments in Russia, where some politicians and commentators have advocated for reclaiming Alaska, have added to the geopolitical frictions. Russian lawmaker Sergei Mironov suggested in December 2023 that Moscow might consider reclaiming its former territories, including Alaska.
Although such claims are widely dismissed as political posturing, they underscore a broader narrative in Russia fueled by nostalgia for the country’s imperial past.
Earlier this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin also signed a decree allocating funds for the research and registration of Russian property overseas, including in former territories of the Russian Empire and Soviet Union.
While the decree did not explicitly mention Alaska, it drew attention from military analysts who speculated that it might symbolically challenge the legitimacy of Russia’s historic sale of Alaska to the United States in 1867.
The decree, announced amid Russia’s ongoing conflict in Ukraine, has been interpreted by some as part of a broader effort to rewrite historical narratives to support contemporary geopolitical ambitions.
These assertions, however, lack any credible foundation. The United States lawfully purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million—a transaction often criticized in the US Congress at the time as “Seward’s Folly” but later turned out to be beneficial when gold and enormous oil reserves were discovered (the then US Secretary of State William H. Seward signed the treaty with Russia for the purchase of Alaska).
Alaska’s Governor Mike Dunleavy and other American officials have strongly rejected any suggestions that question the legitimacy of the sale.
The acquisition of Alaska was a peaceful and legally binding agreement between Russia and the United States, standing in stark contrast to many territorial acquisitions that were achieved through conquest or annexation.
For a mere two cents per acre, the US secured 375 million acres of land in one of history’s largest land deals.
The Alaska Purchase is the third largest, following the 1803 Louisiana Purchase from France, which added 512 million acres to the US, and the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494, which divided the non-European world between Spain and Portugal.
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