Russian diplomats in the US will hold a “telephone conversation” with two Russian men who fled to Alaska

Russian diplomats in the US will hold a “telephone conversation” with two Russian men who fled to Alaska to avoid conscription to fight in Ukraine, Qazet.az reports according to Russian state media.

The two Russians crossed the Bering Strait by boat to avoid being drafted into the military and landed on a remote Alaskan island earlier this week, where they have appealed for asylum, according to reports from the region.

The Russian embassy in Washington “is aware of the situation with the detained Russian citizens in the state of Alaska”, Nadezhda Shumova, the head of the consular department of the Russian embassy in Washington, was cited by Russian state-owned news agency Tass as saying.