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 purported claim on Alaska.

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

"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 then-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 Russia's foreign ministry for comment by email.

This is a developing story and it will be updated as information becomes available.

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