A senior member of the Russian Duma on Monday invited US states to secede from the union and join the Russian Federation.
The Russian lawmaker, Alexander Tolmachev, made the comment in response to a virtual poll, which found that some Americans want their states to secede from the United States, according to Newsweek.
The closest US state to to Russia is Alaska, with just 55 miles separating the two at one point. Russia colonized Alaska in the 19th century before selling the territory to the US in 1867 for $7.2 million (about $144 million in 2022 dollars). Alaska became a US state in 1959.
Some Russian citizens and officials have floated the idea of attempting to reclaim Alaska, but Putin said in 2014 that Russians should “not get worked up” about clawing back the former colony, Newsweek reported.
And after that Russia should get back Alaska.
It used to be Russian and Putin loves to “gather Russian lands”. So obviously the US should oblige and give it back before Russia declares war on them.
It’s so easy for some to manage the lives and lands of Ukrainians.
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) October 3, 2022
The “Greater Russia” radical hawks in Putin’s orbit also want Russia to annex or conquer ALASKA, which Russia sold to America in 1867.
Read that again. Then pass it on.
— Tristan Snell (@TristanSnell) September 30, 2022
The Russian lawmaker invited dissatisfied US states to join with Russia, arguing that the US was showing signs of “decay,” Newsweek reported. (RELATED: Coast Guard Spots Russian And Chinese Navy Ships Off Alaska)
Tolmachev also suggested that American secessionists were frustrated with their federal government’s failed foreign policy. “Such initiatives are a signal that the citizens of the United States are dissatisfied with their leadership and are ready to take extreme measures, up to secession, if the current policy of America continues,” he said. (RELATED: Russian Hackers Take On Major US Airports In Cyberattacks: REPORT)
According to Newsweek, Russian state news source Mosregtoday.ru recently reported on an online poll that showed 80% of New Hampshire citizens want to break away from the United States. A scientific poll conducted in July by the Foundation for New Hampshire Independence found that just 29% of New Hampshirites favor independence for the state. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1868 that states have no legal right to secede from the union.
Tolmachev also said it was “important” that any US secession votes be held “not on social networks, but officially and legitimately, as in the Crimea, Sevastopol, Donetsk and Luhansk republics, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson provinces,” referring to the Ukrainian territory Russia annexed on Sept. 30 after a series of referendums that were widely regarded as fraudulent.
