Four Russian Military Aircraft Detected in Alaskan Airspace

Four Russian military aircraft were detected in Alaskan airspace, days after the U.S. government pushed back against Moscow's claim on Alaska.

The four military jets were tracked operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) but remained in international airspace and didn't enter American or Canadian sovereign airspace, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said in a statement late Tuesday.

"This Russian activity in the Alaska ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat," NORAD said.

Alaska was once part of Russia. In 1867 it was sold to the U.S. for $7.2 million after U.S. President Andrew Johnson signed the Alaska Treaty. It was formally transferred by Russia to the U.S. on October 18, 1867, and it gained the status of a state on January 3, 1959.

The Kremlin in January issued a new decree regarding historic Russian real estate holdings abroad, directing and funding the presidential administration and the foreign ministry in "searching for real estate in the Russian Federation, the former Russian Empire, the former USSR," then referring to the "proper registration of rights...and legal protection of this property," Newsweek previously reported.

In response, the U.S. State Department dismissed reports that Putin could seek to seize Alaska.

"I speak for all of us in the U.S. government to say that certainly, he is not getting it back," State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said on January 22.

Newsweek has contacted the Russian Foreign Ministry for comment by email.

NORAD didn't elaborate on which type of Russian aircraft was detected on Tuesday.

The ADIZ is a defined stretch of international airspace but "requires the ready identification, location and control of all aircraft in the interest of national security," NORAD said.

The aerospace defense command said it employs a "layered defense network of satellites, ground-based and airborne radars and fighter aircraft to track aircraft and inform appropriate actions."

"NORAD remains ready to employ a number of response options in defense of North America," it added.

Last January, a Siberian shaman predicted that Alaska—and California—would become part of Russia in 2023.

"America may soon be divided into several parts, and several states will declare sovereignty. Most likely, Alaska and California will return to the Russian Federation," Russia's deputy head shaman, Artur Tsybikov, said in a video posted on X, formerly Twitter, by Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine's minister of internal affairs.

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Update 2/7/24, 9 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.