In the US but Would Like to Support Russia? Duma Invites American States to Join the Country

Though we tried to clarify here at SOFREP that the Ukraine-Russia war is as real as it gets, there are still a lot of readers who are skeptical about the validity of the war. We try our best to fact-check our stories and cite credible sources, but for those who might be keen on continuing their Russian support, the Duma, Russia’s parliament, is offering you a way out.

After Russia declared that they had legally “annexed” the four regions “contested” by Ukrainians, State Duma deputy Alexander Tolmachev participated in an online poll asking if Americans are willing to migrate to Russia to show solidarity with the nation. He said that if Americans are willing to secede from some states, Moscow is ready to consider it.

Tolmachev added that he is open to conducting an official vote with US states willing to secede. Leadership under current Russian President Vladimir Putin is one of the things the lawmaker uses in his invitation.

“It is important that voting takes place not on social networks, but officially and legitimately, as in the Crimea, Sevastopol, Donetsk and Luhansk republics, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson provinces,” Tolmachev said.

He also said there is an ongoing clash between the US and NATO (Europe, in general), which can be hampered by strengthening ties with Russia, calling the US-NATO relationship “bursting at its seams.”

“Such initiatives are a signal that the citizens of the United States are dissatisfied with their leadership and are ready to take extreme measures, up to secession, if the current policy of America continues,” he said.

In a report cited on Mosregtoday.ru (a Russian news site), an unverified 80 percent of the supposed population of New Hampshire is said to be supportive of the seceding act. A commenter in one of the polls said, “Most of Oregon wants to leave Oregon. I support the big Idaho movement. And so should the people living in Texas, Florida, Idaho and everywhere in between. I support any state that wants to achieve statehood.”

Still, many others are straightforward in their opposition.

Is This Feasible?

As to the question of whether or not this is feasible, according to Brookings, there is a high interest in both Republican and Democrat voters around the idea of seceding away from the “United States'” governance. In a 2020 Hofstra University poll, “nearly 40 percent of likely voters would support state secession if their candidate losses.” And in a YouGov survey last year, about 37 percent of Americans support the idea “to secede.”

As for the Democrats, a July 2021 survey by the University of Virginia showed 41 percent of Biden supports (and 51 percent of Trump voters) are open to exploring the idea “that it’s time to split the country, favoring blue/red states seceding from the union.”

However, Cynthia Nicoletti, professor of law at the University Virginia School of Law, told Newsweek that state secession is unconstitutional.

“States can’t unilaterally secede from the US,” she told Newsweek. “This was established both by the outcome of our Civil War and by the Supreme Court in the 1869 case Texas v. White. Article I, section 10 of the Constitution also prohibits states from entering into alliances, treaties, or confederations. ”

“I suppose theoretically it’s an open question as to whether a state could secede with the consent of Congress or with the consent of all the other states. There’s some throwaway language about the possibility of all states agreeing to allow one state to secede in Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address and in Texas v. White,” Nicoletti added.

Though there is a possibility of state secession within the United States, the Russian proposition is an entirely unrealistic scenario, said Nicollet.

It should be noted that Alaska was formerly a part of Russia but joined the United States after the 1867 Alaska Purchase agreement.