Russia's President Putin lays flowers to the graves of Soviet soldiers who died during WWII at Fort Richardson National Cemetery, Alaska. —AP

Russian President Vladimir Putin laid flowers at the graves of Soviet pilots buried in Alaska after concluding his summit with US President Trump. Putin visited Fort Richardson National Cemetery near Anchorage on Saturday, where a section is dedicated to Soviet airmen who lost their lives in Alaska during the war. According to Reuters, the pilots died in training accidents or harsh weather conditions while ferrying US-built aircraft to the Soviet Union under the Lend-Lease Programme.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the flower-laying ceremony to Russian state media, saying it was scheduled before Putin’s departure from Alaska. The white headstones at the site bear the names, ranks, and service details of each pilot.

Why Soviet pilots are buried in Alaska

During the World War II, the US and the Soviet Union were allies against Nazi Germany. Under the Lend-Lease Programme, Washing­ton supplied Moscow with nearly 8,000 aircraft. Between 1942 and 1945, Soviet pilots trained alongside American crews in Fairbanks, Alaska, before flying the planes across the Bering Strait to Siberia.

The route, known as the Alaska-Siberia air road, was vital for delivering planes to the Eastern Front. Some pilots, however, died in crashes or due to extreme weather. Initially buried in Fairbanks and Nome, their remains were reinterred at Fort Richardson in 1946 by order of the US administration of the Alaska National Cemetery.