Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday granted citizenship to former US intelligence contractor and whistle-blower Edward Snowden.
Former US intelligence contractor and whistle blower Edward Snowden (Document picture: AFP)
President Vladimir Putin on Monday granted Russian citizenship to former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, 9 years after he uncovered the dimensions of secret surveillance operations by means of the Nationwide Safety Company (NSA).
Snowden, 39, fled the US and used to be given asylum in Russia after leaking secret information in 2013 that exposed huge home and world surveillance operations performed by means of the NSA, the place he labored.
U.S. government have for years sought after him returned to the US to stand a prison trial on espionage fees.
There used to be no instant response from Snowden, whose identify gave the impression with none Kremlin touch upon a listing of 72 foreign-born people on whom Putin used to be conferring citizenship.
In 2020, Russia granted Snowden everlasting residency rights, paving the best way for him to procure Russian citizenship.
That yr a U.S. appeals courtroom discovered this system Snowden had uncovered used to be illegal and that the U.S. intelligence leaders who publicly defended it weren’t telling the reality.
Putin, a former Russian undercover agent leader, stated in 2017 that Snowden, who assists in keeping a low profile whilst residing in Russia, used to be improper to leak U.S. secrets and techniques however used to be now not a traitor.
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