Russians Petition To Get Alaska Back

NPR opens this story by declaring that it's not an April Fool's joke.

President Vladimir Putin's annexation of Crimea is reigniting talk in Russia of taking back Alaska from the United States, which purchased the territory from a czar for $7.2 million nearly a century and a half ago. Most of the talk is tongue-in-cheek, but comes at a time of heightened sensitivity in the West over whether Russia is planning further incursions or land grabs. A recent petition written in clunky English on the official White House website seeks Alaska's secession and return to Russia. So far, it has generated more than 37,000 signatures — or more than a third of the 100,000 needed to get the Obama administration to formally respond. According to the website, the petition was created by "S.V." of Anchorage on March 21. But the Moscow Times writes Monday that the petition was actually uploaded by a pro-Kremlin outfit called Government Communication G2C, which was trying to show flaws in the White House petition system, rather than to get Alaska back.

NPR adds that last year an "obscure Russian group" filed a demand with the US federal government for the return of Alaska, claiming that the legalization of gay marriage (which Alaska doesn't have) voided the 1867 Alaska Purchase.