‘Putin’s victory’ Ahead of Anchorage summit, pro-Kremlin media relishes Ukraine’s dismay and highlights Alaska’s Russian past
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are poised to meet in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 15 for the first summit between the two leaders to discuss Russia’s war in Ukraine. The news that the meeting would take place not just on American soil but on a former Russian territory was met with surprise on all sides. In the West, observers and protesters have noted that the International Criminal Court has charged Putin with war crimes, and pointed to past U.S. presidents’ use of summits as a signal of approval for Russian leaders’ actions. Meanwhile, Russian state-backed media has emphasized the supposed excitement among Alaskans over Putin’s impending visit, puzzled over Washington’s intentions, and criticized Europe and Ukraine for trying to play a role in the negotiations.
‘Hissing and writhing’
Russia’s state-controlled media appears eager to maximize coverage of the upcoming meeting in Anchorage.
Pro-Kremlin outlets have devoted significant coverage to Western suggestions that, regardless of the negotiations’ outcome, the Alaska summit represents a win for Putin. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s statement on Wednesday that the meeting is a “personal victory” for Putin sparked a wave of Russian propaganda articles, many with headlines such as “Zelensky acknowledges Putin’s victory” (RIA Novosti) and “‘Putin’s victory’: Zelensky makes admission about U.S.–Russia summit” (1prime.ru).
Other coverage focused on Kyiv and the European Union’s efforts — driven by concerns that Trump might offer Putin a favorable deal with little benefit for Ukraine — to play a greater role in the talks. Some Russian outlets framed this push as sinister attempts to meddle in the peace process. “Europe and Ukraine move to get between U.S. and Russia,” read one Kommersant headline. That article quoted Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, who said that while some “reasonable forces” hoped the talks would succeed, other unnamed parties “hiss and writhe” as if “sprinkled with holy water.”
Several articles have also speculated that Putin and Trump’s next meeting could take place in Russia — possibly prompted by Trump’s misstatement on Monday that he was “going to Russia.” Sergey Aksyonov, the Kremlin-appointed head of occupied Crimea, suggested the city of Yalta as a potential location, saying: “We would be glad if a new Yalta Peace — solid and fair — were to be born in Crimea.”
‘Deep ties to Russia’
Other coverage has highlighted Alaska’s history as a Russian territory and focused on residents of the state who supposedly support Putin.
State-controlled newspaper Argumenty i Fakty ran an interview with Mira Bergelson, a professor at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics, who called Trump’s decision to host Putin in Alaska a “brilliant move.”
“Trump is inviting him to his own country, yet it’s also a place with deep ties to Russia,” she pointed out. “The border between Little and Big Diomede islands [in the Bering Strait] is only four kilometers. One belongs to Russia, the other to the U.S. And in Alaska, there’s respect for Russia.”
A report from regional outlet Ura.ru claimed that Anchorage residents are awaiting the summit with “excitement and pride,” quoting a man originally from Guinea who said he “loves Putin,” as well as a Romanian-American woman who called the summit a “historic event.”
Far-right Christian Orthodox outlet Tsargrad TV asserted that Alaskans are showing a “growing interest” in Russian culture and celebrating traditional Russian holidays such as Maslenitsa and the birthday of poet Alexander Pushkin. “Although Russian is not officially taught in schools, there is a significant number of people interested in learning the language,” the report said, citing local tourism workers.
On Russia’s flagship Channel One, Israeli-Russian journalist Nick Kolyohin said he had spoken to Alaskans who had a “very positive attitude toward Russia,” citing the state’s history:
They remember what it was like before [the U.S. purchased Alaska]. Some say that the native Alaskans were treated much better when the Russians were here, but when the Americans came, things got much worse; at first, they weren’t even considered real people.
The news site Federal Press took a bolder line, detailing an article from the Chinese outlet Baijiahao that argued for Alaska to be returned to Russian control. “From time to time, the idea of its possible return arises in Russia, and recently the topic has gained renewed relevance,” the article wrote. “Chinese analysts highlighted a statement by Russian historian Vladimir Rogov, who noted that historically, Russia has more grounds to claim Alaska than the U.S.”
The St. Petersburg outlet ABN24 ran a piece based on the same Chinese article under the headline, “Baijiahao: The U.S. is getting nervous — the Kremlin has a new reason to begin the process of returning Alaska.”
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Raising suspicion
The U.S. is not a member of the International Criminal Court, which issued an arrest warrant for Putin in 2023, so there’s no risk that the Russian president will be arrested when he enters U.S. territory. Still, several pro-Kremlin articles raised security concerns ranging from routine to conspiratorial.
“It’s unclear why the U.S. [media] coverage doesn’t emphasize that, essentially, Putin is traveling onto enemy territory,” reads one Tsargrad article. “This implies a level of trust toward an opponent who, mind you, leads a country that has killed (and continues to kill) Russian soldiers. […] Who will provide protection? What are the security protocols?”
Another Tsargrad article described an AI-generated video circulating online depicting an assassination attempt on Putin during his trip to Alaska. Under the headline “Will Putin be killed in Alaska?”, the author suggested that Zelensky himself was behind the clip, claiming it showed he was “not a reliable partner.”
Russian state-backed media also raised alarms about alleged Ukrainian attacks in Russia and Ukraine. Citing the Russian Defense Ministry, Channel One reported that the Ukrainian government was “ramping up terrorist activity” in Russian regions and preparing a false-flag attack in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region.
The pro-Kremlin media plans to devote significantly more coverage to the summit itself: according to Kommersant, Russia has sent 52 journalists to Anchorage to cover the talks.
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