US deploys troops to island off Alaska amid growing Russian military activity in region

The Pentagon has deployed about 130 US troops and mobile missile launchers to a deserted island in the Aleutian chain in western Alaska amid a recent increase in Russian military aircraft and ships approaching US territory.

Eight Russian warplanes and four warships, including two submarines, have approached Alaska over the past week as Russia and China have been conducting joint military exercises. There have been no violations of U.S. airspace, and a Pentagon spokesman said Tuesday there was no cause for alarm, the Associated Press reported.

“This is not the first time we've seen Russian and Chinese aircraft flying in the vicinity [of Alaska], and it's certainly something we're monitoring closely and prepared to respond to,” Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said at a news conference.

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In a “show of force” operation, the U.S. Army sent soldiers to Shemya Island, about 1,900 kilometers (1,200 miles) from Anchorage, on Sept. 12. Two HIMARS artillery systems were also delivered to the island, which is home to a U.S. Air Force station dating back to World War II.

Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan said the U.S. military also sent a guided-missile destroyer and a Coast Guard ship to the state amid Russia-China exercises called “Ocean 24” in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said it had detected and tracked Russian military aircraft flying off the coast of Alaska for four days. Two aircraft were spotted on September 11, 13, 14 and 15.

NORAD said the aircraft were operating in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone, which extends beyond U.S. sovereign airspace but within which the U.S. expects the aircraft to identify themselves.

The Russian Embassy in the United States did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

Prepared by Sergey Daga