Alaska governor fires back after Russian MP demands 'reparations' from US, including Alaska and part of California

A top member of Duma, the Russian parliament, wants the United States to pay reparations to Russia for sanctions imposed for the Ukraine invasion — including the return of former territories of the Russian Empire.

But Alaska's Republican governor said Tuesday his state is ready to defend its borders.

What are the details?

Russian MP Oleg Matveychev appeared on Russian state TV on Sunday, where he boasted that Russia is "going to raise the stakes" after "our victory," the Daily Beast reported.

Those new stakes will include the "dissolution of NATO, because the presence of NATO in some countries is getting in our way" and the "extradition of all war criminals," citing current and former top Ukrainian leaders.

Then Matveychev demanded territorial reparations, which would include Alaska and a part of Sonoma County in northern California.

"We should be thinking about reparations from the damage that was caused by the sanctions and the war itself, because that, too, costs money and we should get it back. The return of all Russian properties — those of the Russian empire, the Soviet Union and current Russia — which has been seized in the United States, and so on," he said.

The TV host then asked, "Are you including Alaska and Fort Ross?"

Matveychev responded in the affirmative and added, "As well as the Antarctic ... we discovered it, so it belongs to us."

What did Alaska's governor say?

Reacting to Matveychev, Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) said that Alaskans are prepared to fend off the Russians.

"Good luck with that! Not if we have something to say about it," Dunleavy said. "We have hundreds of thousands of armed Alaskans and military members that will see it differently."

What about Alaska and Ft. Ross?

The U.S. purchased the Alaska territory from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million. The purchase, according to the State Department, "ended Russia’s presence in North America and ensured U.S. access to the Pacific northern rim."

Russia had been eager to unload the territory to further separate Russian territory from the British Empire.

Meanwhile, Russia established a colony in northern California — what is today part of Sonoma County north of San Francisco — at Fort Ross in 1812. Russia sold the land in 1841.

Some Russians today claim the land still legally belongs to their country, claiming that the purchaser, John Sutter, never paid the sell amount of $30,000.