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Tag: Lisa Murkowski

  • Sens. Baldwin, Murkowski file bill to establish LGBTQ+ youth crisis line in law

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    U.S. Sens. Tammy Baldwin and Lisa Murkowski have introduced a bill to write the 988 crisis line’s specialized services for LGBTQ+ youth into law, reviving them after the Trump administration ended them in July.

    “We are in the middle of a mental health crisis, and the 988 lifeline saves lives, plain and simple,” Baldwin, a Wisconsin Democrat who is a lesbian, said in a press release. “There is absolutely no good reason that Donald Trump took away this specialized help for our LGBTQ youth. Mental health does not see partisan lines or geography, and I’m proud to be working with Democrats and Republicans to do what’s right and ensure that all kids have access to the help they need — regardless of who is president.” She is being joined by Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska.

    Baldwin wrote the legislation to create the three-digit 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline and fought to set up a pilot program for LGBTQ+ youth to address higher rates of suicide and mental health challenges among this population. Since the lifeline launched, it has received over 17.7 million contacts, including 12 million calls, 3.1 million texts, and 2.6 million chats. In 2025, the answer rate hit its highest point since inception, 92 percent, but cutting funding for specialized services puts that in jeopardy.

    The LGBTQ+ youth crisis line has received 1.5 million contacts since it was established in 2022, with the number of contacts growing each year.

    Baldwin had already sought to restore funding for the LGBTQ+ youth services through the appropriations process, but her bipartisan bill, the 988 LGBTQ+ Youth Access Act, would protect this service for years to come by putting it into statute. The bill requires that the secretary of Health and Human Services dedicate sufficient resources, including for “establishing, re-establishing, operating, and maintaining” specialized services for LGBTQ+ youth.

    The Trevor Project found that nearly 40 percent of LGBTQ+ young people seriously considered attempting suicide in the previous year, and 12 percent of then attempted suicide, rates much higher than those of non-LGBTQ+ youth. These specialized services connect LGBTQ+ youth with specially trained crisis counselors, similar to other dedicated programs for veterans and service members.

    Companion legislation was introduced in the U.S. House by Democratic Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi, Sharice Davids, and Seth Moulton, and Republican Reps. Mike Lawler and Brian Fitzpatrick.

    The Trevor Project and other activist groups praised the move. “Two months ago today, the administration eliminated the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s ‘Press 3’ LGBTQ+ youth specialized services – a devastating blow that cut life-saving resources for more than 1.5 million young LGBTQ+ Americans who relied on them,” Trevor Project’s CEO, Jaymes Black, said in the release. “Given that LGBTQ+ youth are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide than their peers, the need for these services remains pressing. At The Trevor Project, we are doing everything we can to fill the gaps in crisis care caused by the ‘Press 3’ shutdown. We are immensely grateful to the members of Congress — both Republicans and Democrats — who are calling to restore this vital suicide prevention funding through new legislation. This is not about politics, or identity; this is about doing what is best to support our country’s highest risk populations — and save young people’s lives nationwide.”

    “LGBTQ+ youth are facing a mental health crisis at a scale we can’t ignore…. In 2024 alone, almost half of LGBTQ+ young people who sought mental health support couldn’t, often because of barriers at home or in their schools,” GLSEN Executive Director Melanie Willingham-Jaggers added. “The launch of the LGBTQ+ option on the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline was a major step forward. It’s a service that has already made a difference, and one we can’t afford to lose. The bipartisan 988 LGBTQ+ Youth Access Act of 2025 will ensure that this specialized service remains available and fully funded for the LGBTQI+ community. By codifying ‘Option 3’ into law, this bill sends a clear message: our LGBTQ+ youth matter, and they deserve support, safety, and someone to turn to in their darkest moments. We’re proud to see leaders on both sides of the aisle standing up for their lives.”

    “It comes down to one simple truth: 988 saves lives — especially for those who are most vulnerable,” said David Stacy, vice president of government affairs for the Human Rights Campaign. “The evidence is clear and overwhelming, yet this administration has cruelly ripped away this vital lifeline. We are proud that leaders from both parties recognize the importance of 988, what it represents, and the lives it changes.”

    The legislation is supported by the Trevor Project, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the National Alliance for Mental Illness, GLSEN, and the Human Rights Campaign.

    If you or someone you know needs mental health resources and support, please call, text, or chat with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline or visit 988lifeline.org for 24/7 access to free and confidential services. Trans Lifeline, designed for transgender or gender-nonconforming people, can be reached at (877) 565-8860. The lifeline also provides resources to help with other crises, such as domestic violence situations. The Trevor Project Lifeline, for LGBTQ+ youth (ages 24 and younger), can be reached at (866) 488-7386. Users can also access chat services at TheTrevorProject.org/Help or text START to 678678.

    This article originally appeared on Advocate: Sens. Baldwin, Murkowski file bill to establish LGBTQ+ youth crisis line in law

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  • Sen. Lisa Murkowski Won’t Rule Out Break With GOP

    Sen. Lisa Murkowski Won’t Rule Out Break With GOP

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    Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) will not rule out ditching her party as Donald Trump coasts to the 2024 nomination, she revealed in an interview with CNN that aired on Sunday.

    “I wish that as Republicans, we had … a nominee that I could get behind,” Murkowski told CNN’s Manu Raju. “I certainly can’t get behind Donald Trump.”

    “Oh, I think I’m very independent-minded,” Murkowski said when asked whether she’d consider becoming one of a handful of independents in Congress. When Raju pressed her a bit more on whether she’d consider registering as an independent who would caucus with Republicans, she simply replied, “I am navigating my way through some very interesting political times. Let’s just leave it at that.”

    Murkowski jumped late into the Republican presidential primary with an endorsement of former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley just ahead of Super Tuesday in March. But, after a lackluster performance, Haley dropped out a few days later, leaving Murkowski to declare her “regret that our party is seemingly becoming a party of Donald Trump.”

    The Alaska Senator regularly broke with her own party during the last two years of Trump’s term, voting in line with Trump’s position just 57.5 percent of the time. (The only Senate Republican who did so less frequently was Maine Senator Susan Collins, who also endorsed Haley ahead of Super Tuesday.) In a number of major moments, Murkowski went against Trump’s wishes: she voted against his nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court in 2018, supported Joe Biden’s nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson in 2022, and cast a ballot to impeach Trump for his conduct on January 6, 2021.

    These votes put Murkowski in the crosshairs of Trump and his allies—the GOP frontrunner dubbed her a RINO and called her “worse than a Democrat”— she successfully won re-election to a fifth full term in 2022, fending off a Trump-endorsed challenger (“Get any candidate ready, good or bad, I don’t care, I’m endorsing,” Trump wrote on Twitter ahead of that election. “If you have a pulse, I’m with you!”)

    In recent months, Murkowski has stepped up her criticism of Trump. In December, she described Trump’s anti-immigrant comments, in which he characterized immigrants as “poisoning the blood” of the United States, as “hateful, harmful rhetoric.” She has also criticized his description of January 6 prisoners as “hostages” and “patriots.” And she recently took aim at Trump’s comments calling Jewish Democratic voters people who “hate” their religion, telling CNN that the statement was “incredibly wrong” and “awful.”

    Yet despite her refusal to cast a ballot for Trump, Murkowski has maintained that she will not be voting for President Joe Biden in 2024, telling NBC earlier this month that she “can’t vote for Biden.”

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    Jack McCordick

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  • CNN projects Rep. Mary Peltola will win race for Alaska House seat, thwarting Sarah Palin’s political comeback again | CNN Politics

    CNN projects Rep. Mary Peltola will win race for Alaska House seat, thwarting Sarah Palin’s political comeback again | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola, the Democrat who won a special election that sent her to Congress this summer, will once again thwart former Gov. Sarah Palin’s bid for a political comeback. CNN projected Wednesday that Peltola will win the race for Alaska’s at-large House seat after the state’s ranked choice voting tabulation, defeating Palin and Republican Nick Begich III.

    CNN also projected that Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski will win reelection. She’ll defeat Republican Kelly Tshibaka and Democrat Patricia Chesbro. CNN had previously projected that a Republican would hold the seat.

    And Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy will win reelection, CNN projected. He defeats Democrat Les Gara and independent Bill Walker. Dunleavy won more than 50% of first choice votes, so ranked choice tabulation was not required.

    In Alaska, voters in 2020 approved a switch to a ranked choice voting system. It is in place in 2022 for the first time.

    Under the new system, Alaska holds open primaries and voters cast ballots for one candidate of any party, and the top four finishers advance. In the general election, voters rank those four candidates, from their first choice to their fourth choice.

    If no candidate tops 50% of the first choice votes, the state then tabulates ranked choice results – dropping the last-place finisher and shifting those votes to voters’ second choices. If, after one round of tabulation, there is still no winner, the third-place finisher is dropped and the same vote-shifting process takes place.

    SE Cupp: Palin followed fame but Alaskans were turned off (September 2022)

    Peltola first won the House seat when a similar scenario played out in the August special election to fill the remaining months of the term of the late Rep. Don Young, a Republican who died in March after representing Alaska in the House for 49 years.

    Offering herself as a supporter of abortion rights and a salmon fishing advocate, Peltola emerged as the victor in the August special election after receiving just 40% of the first-place votes. This time, she has a larger share, while Palin’s and Begich’s support has shrunk.

    The House race has showcased the unusual alliances in Alaska politics. Though Peltola is a Democrat, she is also close with Palin – whose tenure as governor overlapped with Peltola’s time as a state lawmaker in Juneau. The two have warmly praised each other. Palin has criticized the ranked choice voting system. But she never took aim at Peltola in personal terms.

    The Republicans in the race, Palin and Begich, both urged voters to “rank the red” and list the two GOP contenders first and second.

    But Peltola had quickly won over many in the state after her special election victory – in part because she has deep relationships with a number of Republicans.

    Peltola told CNN in an interview that she and Palin had bonded in Juneau over being new mothers, and that Palin’s family had given Peltola’s family its backyard trampoline when Palin resigned from the governor’s office.

    At an Alaska Federation of Natives candidate forum in October, Palin effusively praised Peltola.

    “Doggone it, I never have anything to gripe about. I just wish she’d convert on over to the other party. But other than that, love her,” Palin said of Peltola.

    Peltola’s family was also close to the family of the late Young. Peltola’s father and Young had taught school together decades ago and were hunting buddies, Peltola said in an interview.

    In the race for Alaska’s Senate seat, Murkowski, a moderate Republican, was targeted by former President Donald Trump after she voted to convict him during his impeachment trial in the wake of the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. Murkowski also broke with Trump on a number of key votes during his presidency.

    Trump endorsed Tshibaka, and a cadre of former Trump campaign officials worked on her campaign. She was also endorsed by the Alaska Republican Party, which opted to back the more conservative candidate in a state Trump won by 10 percentage points in 2020.

    But Murkowski had built a broad coalition in a state where political alliances are often more complicated than they appear. She and Peltola, had publicly said they would rank each other first in their elections.

    Chesbro, the Democrat, was among the four candidates who had advanced to the general election. Republican Buzz Kelley also advanced, but dropped out and urged his supporters to vote for Tshibaka.

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  • Murkowski and Peltola win reelection in Alaska

    Murkowski and Peltola win reelection in Alaska

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    Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska has won reelection, Alaska’s Division of Elections announced Wednesday, as did the state’s at-large Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola. Alaska used ranked-choice voting system for both races.

    Murkowski — the only Republican who was up for reelection who had voted to convict former President Donald Trump in his second Senate impeachment trial — fended off a challenge by fellow Republican Kelly Tshibaka, who was backed by Trump. Democrat Pat Chesbro was also on the ballot. 

    But the Elections Division announced Wednesday that, after the third round, Murkowski was the winner with 135,972 votes. Tshibaka received 117,299 votes in the final tabulation. 

    Murkowski tweeted Wednesday that she is “honored that Alaskans – of all regions, backgrounds and party affiliations – have once again granted me their confidence to continue working with them and on their behalf in the U.S. Senate.”

    The balance of power in the Senate is still 50 Democrats to 49 Republicans, with the final seat to be determined in Georgia’s runoff on Dec. 6. The Democrats have already clinched a majority.

    There were four candidates on the ballot in the race for the state’s only congressional seat. According to the Elections Division, Peltola won in the third round, defeating Trump-backed candidate and former governor and 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin. 

    In the final tabulation, Peltola got 136,893 votes after the reallocation, while Palin received 129,433. Republican Nick Begich’s voters split the following way: 43,013 to Palin (66.9%), 7,460 to Peltola (11.6%), and 13,864 with no second choice (21.5%).

    Peltola tweeted Wednesday night: “WE DID IT!!” next to a screenshot of a headline about her victory, and a video of a dancing crab. 

    She was first elected to the House in a special election this summer to finish out the late Rep. Don Young’s term, becoming the first Democrat to be elected to the seat in nearly 50 years. She has now been elected to a full term. 

    In Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system, a winner is determined after winning 50% of the vote. The candidate with the fewest first-choice votes is eliminated, and voters’ second choices are reallocated to the remaining candidates. Then, in the third round, the candidate with the next fewest votes is eliminated and their votes are reallocated to the remaining candidates – and so on until a single candidate reaches the 50% threshold. 

    With the latest results, CBS News now projects that in the House of Representatives, the Republicans have won 221 seats, and the Democrats have won 213. The Republicans have already clinched a majority in the House, albeit a narrow one, needing only 218. 

    Aaron Navarro

    Aaron Navarro is an associate producer for the political unit at CBS News, focusing on House and gubernatorial campaigns as well as the census and redistricting.

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  • Alaska asylum seekers are Indigenous Siberians from Russia

    Alaska asylum seekers are Indigenous Siberians from Russia

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    ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Two Russian Indigenous Siberians were so scared of having to fight the war in Ukraine, they chanced everything to take a small boat across the treacherous Bering Sea to reach American soil, Alaska’s senior U.S. senator said after talking with the two.

    The two, identified as males by a resident, landed earlier this month near Gambell, on Alaska’s St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Strait, where they asked for asylum.

    “They feared for their lives because of Russia, who is targeting minority populations, for conscription into service in Ukraine,” Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said Saturday during a candidate forum at the Alaska Federation of Natives conference in Anchorage.

    “It is very clear to me that these individuals were in fear, so much in fear of their own government that they risked their lives and took a 15-foot skiff across those open waters,” Murkowski said when answering a question about Arctic policy.

    “It is clear that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is focused on a military conquest at the expense of his own people,” Murkowski said. “He’s got one hand on Ukraine and he’s got the other on the Arctic, so we have to be eyes wide open on the Arctic.”

    Murkowski said she met with the two Siberians recently but didn’t provide more details about exactly when or where the meeting took place or where their asylum process stood. She was not available after the forum for follow-up questions.

    Murkowski’s office on Oct. 6 announced their request for asylum, saying the men reportedly fled one of the coastal communities on Russia’s east coast.

    A village elder in Gambell, 87-year-old Bruce Boolowon, is believed to be the last living Alaska National Guard member who helped rescue 11 U.S. Navy men who were in a plane that was shot down by Russian MIGs over the Bering Sea in 1955. The plane crash-landed on St. Lawrence Island.

    Gambell, an Alaska Native community of about 600 people, is about 36 miles (58 kilometers) from Russia’s Chukotka Peninsula in Siberia.

    Even though one of the Russians spoke English pretty well, two Russian-born women from Gambell were brought in to translate. Both women married local men and became naturalized U.S. citizens, said Boolowon, who is Siberian Yupik.

    Russians landing in Gambell during the Cold War was commonplace, but the visits were not nefarious, Boolowon said. Since St. Lawrence Island is so close to Russia, people routinely traveled back and forth to visit relatives.

    But these two men seeking asylum were unknown to the people of Gambell.

    “They were foreigners and didn’t have any passports, so they put them in jail,” he told The Associated Press last week.

    The two men spent the night in the jailhouse, but townspeople in Gambell brought them food, both Alaska Native dishes and items bought at a grocery store.

    “They were pretty full; they ate a lot,” Boolowon said.

    “The next day, a Coast Guard C-130 with some officials came and picked them up,” he said, adding that was the last he heard about the Russians.

    Since then, officials have been tight-lipped.

    “The individuals were transported to Anchorage for inspection, which includes a screening and vetting process, and then subsequently processed in accordance with applicable U.S. immigration laws under the Immigration and Nationality Act,” was all a Department of Homeland Security spokesman said in an email this past week when asked for an update on the asylum process and if and where the men were being held.

    Margaret Stock, an immigration attorney in Anchorage, said it’s very unlikely information about the Russians will ever be released.

    “The U.S. government is supposed to keep all of this confidential, so I don’t know why they would be telling anybody anything,” she told the AP.

    Instead, it would be up to the two Russians to publicize their situation, which could put their families in Russia at risk. “I don’t know why they would want to do that,” Stock said.

    Thousands of Russian men fled the country after Putin in September announced a mobilization to call up about 300,000 men with past military experience to bolster forces in Ukraine.

    Messages sent last week and again on Saturday to the Russian consular office in San Francisco were not returned.

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  • Alaska asylum seekers are Indigenous Siberians from Russia

    Alaska asylum seekers are Indigenous Siberians from Russia

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    ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Two Russian Indigenous Siberians were so scared of having to fight the war in Ukraine, they chanced everything to take a small boat across the treacherous Bering Sea to reach American soil, Alaska’s senior U.S. senator said after talking with the two.

    The two, identified as males by a resident, landed earlier this month near Gambell, on Alaska’s St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Strait, where they asked for asylum.

    “They feared for their lives because of Russia, who is targeting minority populations, for conscription into service in Ukraine,” Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said Saturday during a candidate forum at the Alaska Federation of Natives conference in Anchorage.

    “It is very clear to me that these individuals were in fear, so much in fear of their own government that they risked their lives and took a 15-foot skiff across those open waters,” Murkowski said when answering a question about Arctic policy.

    “It is clear that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is focused on a military conquest at the expense of his own people,” Murkowski said. “He’s got one hand on Ukraine and he’s got the other on the Arctic, so we have to be eyes wide open on the Arctic.”

    Murkowski said she met with the two Siberians recently but didn’t provide more details about exactly when or where the meeting took place or where their asylum process stood. She was not available after the forum for follow-up questions.

    Murkowski’s office on Oct. 6 announced their request for asylum, saying the men reportedly fled one of the coastal communities on Russia’s east coast.

    A village elder in Gambell, 87-year-old Bruce Boolowon, is believed to be the last living Alaska National Guard member who helped rescue 11 U.S. Navy men who were in a plane that was shot down by Russian MIGs over the Bering Sea in 1955. The plane crash-landed on St. Lawrence Island.

    Gambell, an Alaska Native community of about 600 people, is about 36 miles (58 kilometers) from Russia’s Chukotka Peninsula in Siberia.

    Even though one of the Russians spoke English pretty well, two Russian-born women from Gambell were brought in to translate. Both women married local men and became naturalized U.S. citizens, said Boolowon, who is Siberian Yupik.

    Russians landing in Gambell during the Cold War was commonplace, but the visits were not nefarious, Boolowon said. Since St. Lawrence Island is so close to Russia, people routinely traveled back and forth to visit relatives.

    But these two men seeking asylum were unknown to the people of Gambell.

    “They were foreigners and didn’t have any passports, so they put them in jail,” he told The Associated Press last week.

    The two men spent the night in the jailhouse, but townspeople in Gambell brought them food, both Alaska Native dishes and items bought at a grocery store.

    “They were pretty full; they ate a lot,” Boolowon said.

    “The next day, a Coast Guard C-130 with some officials came and picked them up,” he said, adding that was the last he heard about the Russians.

    Since then, officials have been tight-lipped.

    “The individuals were transported to Anchorage for inspection, which includes a screening and vetting process, and then subsequently processed in accordance with applicable U.S. immigration laws under the Immigration and Nationality Act,” was all a Department of Homeland Security spokesman said in an email this past week when asked for an update on the asylum process and if and where the men were being held.

    Margaret Stock, an immigration attorney in Anchorage, said it’s very unlikely information about the Russians will ever be released.

    “The U.S. government is supposed to keep all of this confidential, so I don’t know why they would be telling anybody anything,” she told the AP.

    Instead, it would be up to the two Russians to publicize their situation, which could put their families in Russia at risk. “I don’t know why they would want to do that,” Stock said.

    Thousands of Russian men fled the country after Putin in September announced a mobilization to call up about 300,000 men with past military experience to bolster forces in Ukraine.

    Messages sent last week and again on Saturday to the Russian consular office in San Francisco were not returned.

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  • 2 Russians seek asylum after reaching remote Alaska island

    2 Russians seek asylum after reaching remote Alaska island

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    JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Two Russians who said they fled the country to avoid military service have requested asylum in the U.S. after landing in a small boat on a remote Alaska island in the Bering Sea, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s office said Thursday.

    Karina Borger, a spokesperson for the Alaska Republican senator, said in an email that the office has been in communication with the U.S. Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection and that “the Russian nationals reported that they fled one of the coastal communities on the east coast of Russia to avoid compulsory military service.”

    Thousands of Russian men have fled since President Vladimir Putin announced a mobilization to bolster Russian forces in Ukraine. While Putin said the move was aimed at calling up about 300,000 men with past military service, many Russians fear it will be broader.

    Spokespersons with the U.S. Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection referred a reporter’s questions to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security public affairs office, which provided little information Thursday. The office, in a statement, said the people “were transported to Anchorage for inspection, which includes a screening and vetting process, and then subsequently processed in accordance with applicable U.S. immigration laws under the Immigration and Nationality Act.”

    The agency said the two Russians arrived Tuesday on a small boat. It did not provide details on where they came from, their journey or the asylum request. It was not immediately clear what kind of boat they were on.

    Alaska’s senators, Republicans Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, on Thursday said the two Russians landed at a beach near the town of Gambell, an isolated Alaska Native community of about 600 people on St. Lawrence Island. Sullivan said he was alerted to the matter by a “senior community leader from the Bering Strait region” on Tuesday morning.

    Gambell is about 200 miles (320 kilometers) from the western Alaska hub community of Nome and about 36 miles (58 kilometers) from the Chukotka Peninsula, Siberia, according to a community profile on a state website. The remote, 100-mile (161-kilometer) long island, which includes Savoonga, a community of about 800 people, receives flight services from a regional air carrier. Residents rely heavily on a subsistence way of life, harvesting from the sea fish, whales and other marine life.

    A person who responded to an email address listed for Gambell directed questions to federal authorities. A message seeking comment also was sent to the Consulate General of Russia in San Francisco.

    Sullivan, in a statement, said he has encouraged federal authorities to have a plan in place in case “more Russians flee to Bering Strait communities in Alaska.”

    “This incident makes two things clear: First, the Russian people don’t want to fight Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine,” Sullivan said. “Second, given Alaska’s proximity to Russia, our state has a vital role to play in securing America’s national security.”

    Murkowski said the situation underscored “the need for a stronger security posture in America’s Arctic.”

    Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Wednesday, as initial details of the situation were emerging, said he did not expect a continual stream or “flotilla” of people traversing the same route. He also warned that travel in the region could be dangerous as a fall storm packing strong winds was expected.

    It is unusual for someone to take this route to try to get into the U.S.

    U.S. authorities in August stopped Russians without legal status 42 times who tried to enter the U.S. from Canada. That was up from 15 times in July and nine times in August 2021.

    Russians more commonly try to enter the U.S. through Mexico, which does not require visas. Russians typically fly from Moscow to Cancun or Mexico City, entering Mexico as tourists before getting a connecting a flight to the U.S. border. Earlier this year, U.S. authorities contended with a spate of Russians who hoped to claim asylum if they reached an inspection booth at an official crossing.

    Some trace the spike to before Russia invaded Ukraine, attributing it to the imprisonment of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny last year.

    ___

    Associated Press reporters Manuel Valdes in Seattle and Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed to this report.

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  • 2 Russians seek asylum after reaching remote Alaskan island

    2 Russians seek asylum after reaching remote Alaskan island

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    Two Russians who said they fled the country to avoid compulsory military service have requested asylum in the U.S. after landing on a remote Alaskan island in the Bering Sea, according to information from Alaska U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s office

    JUNEAU, Alaska — Two Russians who said they fled the country to avoid compulsory military service have requested asylum in the U.S. after landing on a remote Alaskan island in the Bering Sea, Alaska U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s office said Thursday.

    Karina Borger, a spokesperson for Murkowski, said by email that the office has been in communication with the U.S. Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection and that “the Russian nationals reported that they fled one of the coastal communities on the east coast of Russia to avoid compulsory military service.”

    Spokespersons with the Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection each referred a reporter’s questions to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which did not immediately respond Thursday.

    Alaska’s senators, Republicans Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, on Thursday said the individuals landed at a beach near Gambell, an isolated community of about 600 people on St. Lawrence Island. The statement doesn’t specify when the incident occurred though Sullivan said he was alerted to the matter by a “senior community leader from the Bering Strait region” on Tuesday morning.

    A Sullivan spokesperson, Ben Dietderich, said it was the office’s understanding that the individuals had arrived by boat.

    Gambell is about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southwest of the western Alaska hub community of Nome and about 36 miles (58 kilometers) from the Chukotka Peninsula, Siberia.

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