Putin Grants Russian Citizenship To US Whistleblower Edward Snowden
Putin Grants Russian Citizenship To US Whistleblower Edward Snowden
President Vladimir Putin on Monday granted Russian citizenship to former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, 9 years after he uncovered the dimensions of mystery surveillance operations via way of means of the National Security Agency (NSA).
Snowden, 39, fled the US and become given asylum in Russia after leaking mystery documents in 2013 that discovered massive home and global surveillance operations accomplished via way of means of the NSA, in which he worked.
US government have for years desired him lower back to the US to stand a crook trial on espionage charges.
There become no on the spot response from Snowden, whose call seemed with out Kremlin remark in a Putin decree conferring citizenship on a listing of seventy two foreign-born individuals.
The information brought on a few Russians to jokingly ask whether or not Snowden could be referred to as up for army service, 5 days after Putin introduced Russia’s first public mobilization considering World War Two to shore up its faltering invasion of Ukraine.
“Will Snowden be drafted?” Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-leader of the kingdom media outlet RT and a vocal Putin supporter, wrote with darkish humour on her Telegram channel.
Snowden’s lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, advised RIA information enterprise that his purchaser couldn’t be referred to as up due to the fact he had now no longer formerly served withinside the Russian army.
He stated that Snowden’s spouse Lindsay Mills, who gave delivery to a son in 2020, could additionally practice for citizenship.
Russia granted Snowden everlasting residency rights in 2020, paving the manner for him to reap Russian citizenship.
That yr a US appeals courtroom docket discovered this system Snowden had uncovered become illegal and that americaA intelligence leaders who publicly defended it have been now no longer telling the truth.
Putin, a former Russian secret agent leader, stated in 2017 that Snowden, who continues a low profile at the same time as dwelling in Russia, become incorrect to leak US secrets and techniques however become now no longer a traitor.
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