Edward Snowden, former NSA contractor, acquires Russian citizenship

Edward Snowden, former NSA contractor, acquires Russian citizenship

Former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, who fled punishment after unveiling top-secret US surveillance programs to intercept communications and data from around the world, obtained Russian citizenship on Monday.

Snowden was one of 75 foreigners identified in an announcement signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday that they had obtained Russian citizenship.

Snowden, who fled the United States in 2013

was granted permanent residence in Russia in 2020 and announced at the time that he intended to apply for Russian citizenship without renouncing his U.S. citizenship.

After Putin's decision to start what the Kremlin called a "special military operation" in Ukraine, relations between Washington and Moscow have already reached their lowest levels in decades.

 saw him as a courageous whistleblower willing to defend American civil liberties, but U.S. He is charged with harming American soldiers and damaging national security, according to intelligence authorities. He currently faces charges in the United States that could lead him to prison for a very long time.

"Our position remains unchanged"

 Foreign Ministry spokesman Ned Price said on Monday. "Mr. Al-Sayyid. In order to face prosecution like any other American citizen, Snowden must return to the United States.

At the same time as Moscow prepares reservists to invade Ukraine, Snowden becomes a Russian citizen. Until age 65, practically every man in Russia is seen as a reserve, and officials confirmed Monday that men with dual nationality are also eligible for military recall.

However, Snowden has never served in the Russian military and is therefore ineligible for mobilization, according to his lawyer Anatoly Kochrina, who spoke to the Interfax news agency. The basic qualification for recall is believed to be prior military or combat experience.

Kochrina told Russian news agency Rhea Novosti that Snowden's wife

Lindsey Mills, an American with whom she resides in Russia, would apply for a Russian passport. The couple were born with two children.

After nearly ten years of exile and two years of waiting, Snowden tweeted Monday that "a little stability will make a difference for my family." "I invite them, and for all of us, to have privacy."

In 2019, Snowden, who kept a low profile while living in Russia and sometimes criticized the Russian government's social media policies, stated that he would be happy to return to the United States if a fair trial could be guaranteed.

Snowden gained a reputation as a spokesman for privacy and intelligence

• frequently participating in remote events from Russia.

• However, he has been criticized by the intelligence community

• officials from both American political parties, including present and previous

• claim that by unveiling critical programs

• he is endangering the world's security.

 His disclosures were subject to an assessment of the American damage, which remains confidential.

Snowden's citizenship was granted "somewhat curious timing," according to James Clapper, former director of US national intelligence at the time of the revelation.

In an email sent on Monday, Clapper stated that it "raises the issue - again - about what he provided with the Russians."

When the United States revoked Snowden's passport, he passed through Moscow and strongly denied working with Russian intelligence.

The NSA collected data passing through the infrastructure of US telephone and internet companies

• according to documents revealed by Snowden.

• It also revealed the breadth of U.S. surveillance of foreign authorities

• including leaders of U.S.

• allied countries, as well as the secret U.S. intelligence budget.

Snowden revealed the information because he believed the CIA had overstepped its limits and improperly violated civil liberties. 

In addition, he stated that if he filed an internal whistleblower complaint instead of leaking documents to the media, he did not believe former President Barack Obama's administration would take anything.

According to the author of the 2019 book "Permanent Record" 

his decision to turn on the NSA was influenced by its use of programming to build a backup system of agency data and a storage of confidential internal observations about the agency's widespread espionage.

Snowden claimed that as he read in the warehouse 

he began to realize the extent to which his government had violated civil liberties and felt "cursed that we had all been reduced to something like children, who had been forced to do so. to live the rest of their lives under the supervision of full-fledged parents ".

Snowden was accused of stealing government property and disclosing classified information about U.S.

 national security and intelligence. Each of the three offences is punishable by 10 years' imprisonment.

In a separate lawsuit, the Justice Department alleged that Snowden had violated nondisclosure agreements with intelligence agencies and should be prevented from benefiting from his curriculum vitae.

In light of ongoing criminal investigations, the White House on Monday referred questions about Snowden's citizenship to the Justice Department.