U.S. naval forces last week monitored 11 Chinese and Russian ships that patrolled near Alaska’s Aleutian Islands before they quietly left the area.
Four U.S. destroyers, along with P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft, shadowed the fleet of warships before they departed the area without entering U.S. territory, according to The Wall Street Journal, which confirmed the details with administration officials and Northern Command.
The incident set off immediate concern in Washington over the weekend, particularly among Alaskan lawmakers who received a classified briefing on the matter.
Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the combined “incursion” from Russia and China near his state was “yet another reminder that we have entered a new era of authoritarian aggression led by the dictators in Beijing and Moscow.”
Sullivan also noted that a combined naval fleet from Russia and China patrolled near Alaska in September, which he said saw a “tepid” response from Washington at the time.
“For that reason, I was heartened to see that this latest incursion was met with four U.S. Navy destroyers, which sends a strong message to [Chinese President] Xi Jinping and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin that the United States will not hesitate to protect and defend our vital national interests in Alaska,” Sullivan said in a statement over the weekend.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Friday that the joint patrol with the Chinese navy was conducted for a mock search and destroy mission.
The Defense Ministry said in a Telegram post the fleet has patrolled more than 2,300 miles in the military exercise. China’s embassy in Washington confirmed similar details to the Journal.
The waters around Alaska, which is separated by Russia by the Bering Strait, has been a tense region as Washington and Moscow have grown further apart during the war in Ukraine. In May, U.S. jets intercepted six Russian jets near the state.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said the incident last week was “a stark reminder of Alaska’s proximity to both China and Russia.”
“Incursions like this are why we are working so hard to secure funding and resources to expand our military’s capacity and capabilities in Alaska, and why our colleagues must join us in supporting those investments,” she said in a statement.