Putin has granted Russian citizenship to Edward Snowden, the former US intelligence analyst wanted by US Justice for leaking to Wikileaks abundant information about the National Security Agency (NSA, for its acronym in English).
the president of Russia, Vladimir Putingranted Russian citizenship to the former CIA analyst on Monday Edward Snowden, according to the decree published on the information portal of the public administration.
The 39-year-old American Snowden, who received political asylum in Russia in 2013, is among the foreigners who received a Russian passport on Monday by decision of the head of the Kremlin. The presidential decree specifies that citizenship is granted to an individual born on June 21, 1983 in the United States.
Putin made the decision under Article 89 A of the Russian Constitution, which stipulates that the head of state can grant citizenship and political asylum.
The request had been filed in 2020 by Snowden himself, stating that “after years of separation from our parents, my wife and I have no desire to be separated from our son. That is why, in this era of pandemics and closed borders, we are applying for Russian-American dual citizenship.”
The new Russian citizen, who received a permanent residence permit in October 2020, had his first child with his wife, Lindsay Mills, in December of that year.
After years of separation from our parents, my wife and I have no desire to be separated from our son. That’s why, in this era of pandemics and closed borders, we’re applying for dual US-Russian citizenship. https://t.co/cCgT0rr37e
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) November 1, 2020
According to Russian law, due to the fact of being born in Russia, the child automatically obtained Russian citizenship.
Snowden has not made any comments alluding to the Russian military campaign in Ukraine that began last February. His lawyer Anatoli Kucherena denied on Monday that his client could be called up in the framework of the partial mobilization decreed last week by Putin.
“As Edward did not serve in the Russian Army, he has no military practice and experience, he cannot be mobilized,” he told the Interfax agency.
The Russian president signed a decree on Monday, collected by the official Government Legal Information portal, in which he grants citizenship to dozens of people, including Snowden.
Snowden is wanted by the United States Justice after leaking numerous secret documents in 2013 revealing different espionage techniques carried out by the National Security agency, including illegal wiretapping of international political leaders.
Once he fled the United States, his first destination was Hong Kong, although he later ended up in Russia. In 2014, she received a first residence permit that, years later, would be extended indefinitely.
The following year he was joined by Lindsay, whom he married in 2017.
In addition to writing books, Snowden consults and hosts global video conferences on information technology, its risks and threats.