Russian President Vladimir Putin has presented an icon of St. Herman of Alaska to His Eminence Alexei, Bishop of Sitka and Alaska, during a visit to Anchorage.
The meeting took place shortly after Putin’s talks with U.S. President Donald Trump at the Elmendorf-Richardson Army Base. According to Russian news outlet Vzglyad, the Russian leader conveyed warm greetings from His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia before presenting the gift.
“We met before our trip, and he told me about how the Orthodox Church was born here in Alaska. He spoke warmly of you and asked me to convey his very best wishes,” Putin told the bishop, as reported on the Kremlin’s Telegram channel.
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St. Herman of Alaska, one of the most venerated Orthodox saints in America, is regarded as the “Enlightener of America” for his missionary work among Alaska’s Indigenous people in the 18th century.
In response, Bishop Alexei presented Putin with a personal icon given to him by his brother monks on Mount Athos at the time of his consecration. The bishop explained that he had prayed before the icon for four years and wished to gift it to the Russian president as a gesture of gratitude for Russia’s historic role in bringing Orthodox Christianity to Alaska.
The exchange of gifts highlighted the enduring spiritual and cultural ties between Russia and Alaska, rooted in the Orthodox Church’s centuries-old presence in the region.
