Two Russians flee Putin by boat to Alaska -- surprising federal officials

The two Russians who fled their country arrived at a beach near the town of Gambell, a small Alaska Native community of about 600 people on St. Lawrence Island, which is 36 miles from the Chukotka Peninsula, Siberia, according to the Associated Press.

A spokesperson for GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski told the wire service Thursday that “the Russian nationals reported that they fled one of the coastal communities on the east coast of Russia to avoid compulsory military service.”

Murkowkski reportedly said: “We are actively engaged with federal officials and residents in Gambell to determine who these individuals are, but right now, we already know that the federal response was lacking. Only local officials and state law enforcement had the capability to immediately respond to the asylum seekers, while Customs and Border Protection had to dispatch a Coast Guard aircraft from over 750 miles away to get on the scene.”