A member of Russia’s parliament called for missile strikes on Alaska on television. Andrey Gurulyov, a deputy of the Duma, said that Moscow was “quite capable of scouring Alaska to the ground.”
The member of parliament made the comments during a Russian state-run news show.
“We have a strategic nuclear force that holds America’s territory. Let me remind you, there’s Alaska across the strait,” Gurulyov said. “It doesn’t take much, a couple of brigades will suffice.”
The deputy has previously courted controversy, saying earlier this year that Great Britain was the “main instigator” of the war between his country and Ukraine.
He said that Russia must “tear Britain down, to wipe it off the face of the earth.”
“Sooner or later it will come to that, and that’s probably how it will end,” he said.
The Duma deputy’s comments come during an inflection point in the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Russia claimed a major victory through its capture of the eastern industrial city of Bakhmut. Moscow took the site after a grueling 9-month battle that left much of it destroyed.
Ukrainian President Zelensky: "Bakhmut is not captured by the Russian Federation today. There cannot be two or three interpretations of this."
— Lucas Tomlinson (@LucasFoxNews) May 21, 2023
However, Russia faces a number of other challenges, including increased deliveries of Western arms and supplies to Ukraine.
The Ukrainian military recently released a video that appears to show that Kyiv is starting a springtime offensive against Russian forces. The exact details of the potential offensive have not yet been released.
This week, forces claiming to be Russian dissidents briefly captured several towns within Russian territory. Shortly after the raid, the dissidents appeared to withdraw.
The recent events also come as Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) visited Kyiv and met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
While he was in the Ukrainian capital, Graham said that American aid to the country was the “best money we’ve ever spent.”
He cited recent criticism from former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, saying that “if you want Russians to stop dying in Ukraine, withdraw. Stop the invasion. Stop the war crimes.”
Following the meeting, the South Carolina Republican said that the “Russian propaganda machine is hard at work.”
