About 130 U.S. soldiers are returning to their bases after being deployed to a remote Alaska island amid a spike in Russian military activity off the western reaches of the U.S.

Eight Russian military planes and four navy vessels, including two submarines, have come close to Alaska in the past week.

US Army soldiers were deployed to a remote island southeast of Alaska last week as part of a “force protection operation” amid an expected increase in Russian and Chinese military exercises in the region,

Alaska Air Group Inc., the parent company of Alaska Airlines, Wednesday morning announced that it had completed its $1.9 billion acquisition of Hawaiian Holdings, the parent company of Hawaiian Airlines.

Alaska Air Group has completed its acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines, the SeaTac-based airline said early Wednesday.

Alaska Airlines closed its $1 billion purchase of Hawaiian Airlines on Wednesday, a day after the federal government removed the last major regulatory obstacle to the deal.