Just to keep the record straight, Palin never claimed to be able to see Russia from her home. That was Tina Fey in her impersonation of Palin.

In reality, Russia and Alaska are their closest to each other at a certain point across the Bering Strait, a good many miles up-coast. The islands, Little Diomede (American) and Big Diomede (Russian) are fewer than three miles apart, and therefore visible to each other.