Russian embassy says US denied visit to Soviet graves in Alaska

A gaggle of Russian diplomats prevented from visiting the graves of Soviet troopers who died in World Struggle II, state media report.

Russia’s embassy in Washington, DC says a gaggle of Russian diplomats visiting Anchorage, Alaska’s largest metropolis, has been prevented by US authorities from visiting the graves of Soviet troopers who died throughout World Struggle II, in accordance with Russian state media.

“Sadly, the native American authorities, with out rationalization, didn't enable embassy diplomats to go to the Fort Richardson Nationwide Cemetery and kneel earlier than the graves of Soviet pilots and sailors who died in Alaska in 1942-1945,” TASS information company cited Russian diplomat Nadezhda Shumova as saying on Saturday.

“Makes an attempt to acquire entry to the memorials by way of the State Division have been unsuccessful, the diplomatic observe of the [Russian] embassy on this regard was ignored.”

A allow is required to entry the cemetery on the Fort Richardson US military set up, in accordance with the cemetery’s web site.

Russian diplomats have visited the cemetery previously, the embassy wrote on Twitter.

9 Soviet pilots and two different army personnel are buried on the cemetery, TASS reported.

They died whereas flying planes from the US to the Soviet Union as a part of the World Struggle II Lend-Lease programme. Lend-Lease was an effort, begun earlier than the US joined the conflict, to provide allies with materials deemed very important to the defence of the US.

Diplomatic relations between Russia and the US have been more and more strained since Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

The Kremlin welcomed the outcomes of the US midterm elections, the place neither the Democrats nor the Republicans emerged as clear winners however stated the consequence wouldn't “change something important.”

“Relations nonetheless are, and can stay, dangerous,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov informed reporters on the time.

Washington and Moscow just lately engaged in a uncommon occasion of cooperation once they negotiated the discharge of American basketball participant Brittney Griner, who was serving 10 months in a Russian jail, in change for Russian arms supplier Viktor Bout.

The 2 international locations additionally traded prisoners in April when Russia launched former US Marine Trevor Reed and the US launched Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko.