Snowden, the leaker of US intelligence surveillance, received Russian citizenship

Former NSA consultant Edward Snowden has been granted Russian citizenship. Russian President Vladimir Putin approved his citizenship on Monday. Reuters news.

Edward Snowden worked on contract as a computer intelligence consultant for the NSA. He came to the discussion by leaking one after another secret documents related to NSA surveillance. Snowden sought refuge in Russia in 2013 to avoid arrest in the United States. He has been there for 9 years. The US has been seeking Snowden's return from Russia for years to face trial on espionage charges.

On Monday, Putin signed an order granting Russian citizenship to 72 foreigners. 39-year-old Snowden is also on this list. However, Snowden did not immediately respond to this.

Putin recently announced 'partial mobilization' to send troops to Ukraine. Under this, letters are being sent to the emergency reserve forces (reserve forces) to join the war. After five days of this announcement, some Russian citizens are laughing about Snowden's citizenship. They are questioning whether Snowden will also be sent a letter to join the war.

Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of state-run RT and a Putin supporter, joked in a Telegram post, 'Will Snowden be given a letter to join the war?'
Snowden's lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, told the RIA news agency that his client may not be drafted into the war. Because he has no experience of working in the Russian army.

According to Putin's announcement, only those who have military experience or military training will be called up to join the war.
Snowden's wife, Lindsay Mill, will also apply for Russian citizenship, the lawyer said. The couple had a son in 2020.

Earlier in 2020, Snowden was recognized as a permanent resident of Russia. This opened the door for him to acquire Russian citizenship.

That same year, a US appeals court ruled that the NSA's surveillance activities that Snowden had leaked were illegal. At the same time, US intelligence officials who publicly argued for such surveillance activities were not telling the truth, the observation said.