From: New Voice of Ukraine by Alex Stezhensky
It’s been 158 years since Russia sold Alaska to the United States. So how did it happen — and how did this harsh, frozen territory become one of the wealthiest states in the country? More to the point: Why does Vladimir Putin still seem obsessed with the idea of taking it back?
Putin wants to reclaim Alaska as part of Russia — or at least that’s the implication. The idea of “returning” the northern lands resurfaced in Russia in Jan. 2024, when Putin issued Decree No. 21. The order called for identifying foreign properties that once belonged to the Russian Empire or the Soviet Union and verifying whether rights to them were still formally recognized.
While the dictator’s directive didn’t name specific territories, international observers quickly speculated that Putin had Alaska in his sights. In the U.S., the idea was widely mocked — but six months later, Washington quietly bolstered its naval presence near Alaska, a response to growing Kremlin activity in the region.
So why would Putin target these cold, unforgiving lands? And why would the United States be willing to go to war over them?
Covered in snow and rich in gold and oil, Alaska is the largest and northernmost state in the U.S. But it hasn’t been American all that long — the purchase happened only in the mid-19th century, and for a bargain price considering the region’s vast mineral wealth and thriving fisheries. So how much did the U.S. pay the Russian Empire for Alaska? And why did Tsar Alexander II sell it?
Voice of Ukraine 