Russian President Vladimir Putin paid his respects as he knelt and laid flowers at the graves of Soviet pilots buried in Alaska, following his historic meeting with his American counterpart Donald Trump.On Saturday, he visited Fort Richardson National Cemetery near Anchorage, where a dedicated section honours Soviet airmen who died in Alaska during World War II.The white headstones, inscribed with the names and ranks of each pilot, commemorate those who lost their lives while training or ferrying US-made aircraft to the Soviet Union under the Lend-Lease Program, Fox Live News reported.During World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union fought as allies against Nazi Germany. Under the Lend-Lease Program, the US supplied the Soviets with nearly 8,000 aircraft and other war materials.Some Soviet pilots lost their lives during training or in transit due to accidents or harsh weather conditions. Initially buried in Fairbanks and Nome, their remains were reinterred in 1946 at Fort Richardson by order of the US administration of the Alaska National Cemetery.For decades, the Soviet pilots’ resting place remained undocumented in official Russian records.In 1990, a delegation from the Soviet Committee of War Veterans confirmed the site’s history. In 2011, then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev awarded Virginia Walker, the cemetery’s director, for her role in preserving the graves and ensuring their upkeep. The site remains in pristine condition, with each headstone inscribed in English and Russian.Trump and Putin’s meeting in Alaska has a significant geopolitical connotation. The territory was part of Russian land until 1867, when the United States purchased it for $7.2 million in what was then dismissed as “Seward’s Folly.”The military base hosting the summit, Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson, is a hub for US Arctic defense. Today, Alaska is separated from Russia by only a few miles across the Bering Strait, making it a natural point for discussions on regional security, Arctic resources, and shipping routes.
