The speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, vowed to “take back” Alaska this week if Russian assets are frozen or taken by the United States as retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine.

“Let America always remember: there’s a piece of territory, Alaska,” Vyacheslav Volodin said during the State Duma’s final meeting before the summer recess.

“When they try to manage our resources abroad, let them think before they act that we, too, have something to take back,” Volodin continued.

He noted that the deputy speaker Pyotr Tolstoy had proposed holding a referendum on Alaskans joining Russia.

“We don’t interfere in their domestic affairs,” Volodin said, suppressing laughter, as State Duma delegates cheered.

In response to the U.S. suggestion to sell confiscated Russian oligarchs’ assets to reconstruct Ukraine, Volodin indicated that Moscow might similarly seize the Russian holdings of “unfriendly” nations.

Russians arrived in Alaska for the first time in about 1600. Then, Russian settlements started to appear on the Alaskan coast in the 1740s when regular commercial fur-trapping excursions between Siberia and Alaska began. In 1867, the United States paid Russia $7.2 million, or about 2 cents per acre, to purchase Alaska.

On Wednesday, Dmitry Medvedev, a former president, also used social media to threaten nuclear war if the International Criminal Court (ICC) took action against Russia for suspected crimes in Ukraine.

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Last month, as Russia’s war to annex Ukrainian territory entered its fourth month, the Kremlin issued a dire warning about a “long crisis” in relations with Western countries.

“We will never trust the West again,” Dmitry Peskov, a spokesperson for President Vladimir Putin, stated in an interview.

One day after the remark, “Alaska Is Ours!” billboards were sighted in Russia. According to Krasnoyarsk news outlet NGS24, numerous billboards sporting the message were noticed on Thursday, surprising locals in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk. 

Although the billboards appeared shortly after Volodin’s remark, it does not seem that the Russian government was behind their placement. Vladimir Vladimirov, a restaurant owner in Krasnoyarsk, told NGS24 that there were “several of them in different parts of the city,” but he believed that “some patriot” had ordered the billboards.

In a statement to NGS24, a representative for the Krasnoyarsk firm “Alaska,” which is said to produce trailers, quickly took credit for the billboards. According to a spokesman, the company’s director is “very patriotic,” and by putting up the billboards throughout the city, the company “decided to show that we are for patriotism.”

Most Alaskans are not in favor of joining Russia, yet in 2014 and 2015, WhiteHouse.Gov petitions with the slogan “Alaska Back to Russia” gathered tens of thousands of signatures.

A representative for Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy responded to a request for comment by directing Newsweek to a tweet the governor sent in reaction to Russia’s threat to “take back” the state on Thursday.

“To the Russian politicians who believe they can take back Alaska: Good luck,” the Republican governor tweeted.

Dr. Ian Garner, a Russian media observer, posted a picture of the billboard on Twitter and said, “They’ve gone totally mad.”