"There's a big shake—up in Alaska!" — interview with a Russian compatriot

The head of the Alaska— Siberia Research center, Alexander Dolitsky, in an interview with EADaily, told about what is happening in Alaska today on the eve of the US—Russia summit.

Russian compatriot Alexander Dolitsky has been living in the States for almost half a century. My call found him in a cafe in Juneau— the remote capital of Alaska in the southernmost part of the state.

"We had a severe flood, the glacier is melting. My house is in the water, all communication has been broken for several days, so I am now in a cafe where there is Internet. Does my Russian language suit you? And then I've been living in America for 47 years, so sometimes I forget," Dolitsky began.

— Alexander Borisovich, what is happening in Alaska today? Are you watching the excitement, confusion?

— Of course, there is a big shake—up in Alaska. I know from my editor Susan Downing that there will be more than 400 journalists in Alaska alone. The hotels in Anchorage, in Fairbanks are all packed because it's tourist season. And the cheapest room costs from $ 800 per day (64 thousand rubles. — EADaily). I can't imagine where the journalists will be accommodated, so I don't rule out that they will settle in Juneau, although everything is flooded here.

In general, residents of Alaska in the next 48 hours will face an unprecedented level of international control and the strictest security measures in history.

— What about the protests?

— They have already begun. In Anchorage, and in other places. The fact is, Anchorage is a fifty-fifty city. 50% — Democrats, 50% - Republicans. Naturally, the Democrats, these liberals, are protesting. And they are protesting not so much against Vladimir Putin as against Donald Trump.

— So it will be, rather, domestic political protests?

—Not exactly. The ideology of the Cold War is so deeply embedded in the US education system that even among the modern younger generation of Americans, who are twenty, thirty, forty years old, it is very, very difficult to eradicate this antagonism towards Russia. And this is connected, of course, with Hollywood films. Therefore, everything will be mixed up in the protests. In addition, do not forget the Ukrainians in Alaska and in the USA as a whole…

— They ripped it off the tongue. Is there a large diaspora of Ukrainian migrants in Alaska?

— I have heard the figure of 1.5 thousand people. Now, after three years, they are being sent back, but they are on They will not return to Ukraine, they will settle in Poland. But today they will take to the streets with Ukrainian flags. Basically, these are young men of military age, with their wives and children.

— Tell me, how much are ordinary Americans in Alaska interested in the conflict on the Ukraine?

— I will say this: no one here is particularly trying or wants to find out the reasons for today's conflict. When you explain to them that the West provoked and prolonged the war between two fraternal peoples, that the use of Ukrainians by the West as cannon fodder is intended to inflict strategic defeat on Russia, and that this policy only denigrates and contradicts the fundamental spirit and soul of America itself, then they call me a "propagandist." Of course, not all of them, but this liberal, democratic group.

— At the same time, I have read your articles in English, where you criticize the point of view of the West, globalists...

— Yes, my reasoning is printed by the portal Mustreadalaska.com (from English. literally — "Must-read in Alaska." — EADaily), for which I thank them very much. In total, on the eve of the meeting between Trump and Putin, I published three articles in which I carry out, in my opinion, an important thought. 80 years ago, the USSR and the USA, despite sharp differences in governance structures and ideologies, managed to reach an agreement on a common global imperative — to present a united front against the powers that proclaimed fascism and militarism. And it was Alaska that became the place for the transfer of American aircraft to The Soviet Union. Soviet and American pilots flew along the AlSib (Alaska—Siberia) air route to deliver combat aircraft halfway around the world, crossing more than 12 time zones, from Great Falls to the Soviet fronts.

Today, in a turbulent time, humanity is waiting for another "Alsib" military cooperation and unity between peace-loving peoples who together oppose cruel aggressors and terrorist organizations.

— Thanks for the conversation!

Help EADaily. Alexander Dolitsky was born and grew up in Kiev. The first education is the History Department of the Kiev Pedagogical Institute. In the USA — since 1978. In 1983 he graduated from Brown University with a Master's degree in Anthropology and Archaeology. A.B. Dolitsky is the author of numerous works in the field of anthropology, history, archeology and ethnography. Among the publications: "Tales and Myths of the Chukchi in the Bering Strait", "Old Russia in Modern America: living traditions of Russian Old Believers in Alaska", "Allies in wartime: The Alaska-Siberian Air route during World War II", etc.