Propagandists have been trying to explain current events using conspiracy theories for years, trying to justify the crimes of the Russians. Sometimes they use the most absurd theories for this, such as the “Alaskan payment conspiracy” or “Orkney conspiracy” theory.

According to it, the Russian Empire allegedly never received payment for the purchase of Alaska from the United States, and instead the ship Orkney, allegedly carrying payment in the form of gold, was deliberately blown up with insurance money by Oleksandr ‘Sandy’ Keith, a conman and expert on explosions. They say Orkney sank in the Baltic Sea while transporting payment to St. Petersburg from London. Oleksandr Keith, who went by several aliases including William Thompson, had previously blown up ships to claim insurance money in Europe. Russian politician Volodymyr Zhyrynovskyi of Russia's Liberal Democratic Party has repeatedly made these allegations, as well as allegations of bribery related to the purchase agreement.

The theory was disproved. Firstly, the fact that Russia did receive the money is evidenced by the fact that it was then spent on building railway junctions throughout the country. Secondly, according to the conspiracy theory, Orkney was blown up on the date when the money was supposed to be sent. It is stated that the ship sank in the middle of July 1868, when payment was supposed to be delivered on August 1, 1868. Additionally, there is no record of the disappearance of a ship named Orkney, only a similar ship called the Orkney Lass, which, according to post-event reports, was still in service and was probably bound for South America that year rather than St. Petersburg. Gold has never been found in the Baltic Sea either.

Russian propagandists use this theory as one of the first examples of how the West allegedly constantly wanted to deceive Russia. In addition, a number of Russian propagandists and high-ranking officials, appealing to this theory, have repeatedly threatened the United States with military intervention in Alaska, since within the framework of the theory this territory continues to remain Russian. They say that Russia has the right to this, since it did not receive money for it at the time. In addition, they also want to justify the “struggle against the West and Western values”. Russia is victimizing itself by reinforcing the myth that the West constantly wants to destroy it using such theories.