President Vladimir Putin gave former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden Russian citizenship on Monday, nine years after he revealed the scope of the National Security Agency's secret monitoring operations (NSA).
Snowden, 39, fled the United States and was granted asylum in Russia in 2013 after releasing classified papers revealing enormous domestic and international monitoring operations carried out by the NSA, where he worked.
For years, US officials have sought his extradition to face a criminal prosecution on espionage accusations.
Snowden's name surfaced in a Putin decree bestowing citizenship on 72 foreign-born individuals without remark from the Kremlin.
Snowden later sent a message, largely an updated version of a tweet he sent in November 2020, expressing he wanted his family to be together.
“After years of separation from our parents, my wife and I have no desire to be separated from our SONS,” the tweet read.
“After two years of waiting and nearly ten years of exile, a little
stability will make a difference for my family. I pray for privacy for
them – and for us all.”
The new tweet made no reference to the Kremlin leader’s decree, but it was attached to a 2020 Twitter thread in which Snowden said he and his family were applying for dual U.S.-Russian citizenship.
✍️✍️✍️ ✍️“feel free to disagree in the comments π ☝️π & let JAIYEORIE know what U think!” π COMMENTS ππ✍️π€³ DROP YOUR OPINIONS ✍️✍️✍️
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