Mon 26 September 2022:
Former U.S. security contractor Edward Snowden has been given Russian citizenship, according to a decree signed by President Vladimir Putin on Monday,
One of the 75 foreign nationals whose citizenship has been granted by the decree is Snowden. The decree was made public on a website run by the government.
Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden has been living in Russia since 2013 in order to avoid prosecution in his home country for disclosing secret documents describing secret government surveillance initiatives.
He was granted permanent residency in 2020 and said at the time that he planned to apply for Russian citizenship, without renouncing his U.S. citizenship.
Snowden’s lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, told Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti that the former contractor’s wife Lindsay Mills, an American who has been living with him in Russia, will also be applying for a Russian passport.
A child was born to the couple in December 2020.
Snowden, who has kept a low profile in Russia and occasionally criticized Russian government policies on social media, said in 2019 that he was willing to return to the U.S. if he’s guaranteed a fair trial.
He hasn’t offered any commentary on receiving Russian citizenship.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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