Edward Snowden is granted Russian citizenship by Putin almost a decade after he fled US for leaking NSA secrets | The Sun
WHISTLEBLOWER Edward Snowden has been granted a Russian citizenship by Vladimir Putin almost a decade after he fled the United States for leaking classified documents.
Snowden, a former intelligence contractor for the National Security Agency (NSA), fled the US back in 2013 after exposing a large scale of secret surveillance operations practiced by the defense department.
The leaked documents unveiled schemes by the US government to surveil American citizens both in their homeland and abroad.
Snowden was given asylum in Russia after leaking sensitive files, and in 2020, he was granted permanent residency in the country,
For years, US officials have wanted him returned to the United States to face a criminal trial on espionage charges.
In 2019, Snowden said he would be willing to return to the US on the condition that he is granted a fair trial.
The espionage charges Snowden faces could land him in prison for up to 30 years.
"That is the ultimate goal, but if I’m going to spend the rest of my life in prison, then my one, bottom-line demand that we all have to agree to is that at least I get a fair trial," Snowden told CBS This Morning at the time.
Snowden is one of 75 foreign nationals to be granted a Russian citizenship on Monday.
Putin's untimely grant comes as tension have mounted in his war against Ukraine.
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Last week, the Russian tyrant called up 300,000 civilians to the battlefield.
In his first televised address since the start of the war, Putin said: "To protect our Motherland, its sovereignty and territorial integrity. To ensure the safety of our people, and people at the liberated territories.
"I find it necessary to support the suggestion of the Ministry of Defence and the General Staff about declaring partial mobilization in Russia."
In a desperate bid to stop his army from collapsing amid Ukraine's lightning counterattack, Putin said he signed a decree on the partial mobilization, which started on Wednesday.
It is Russia's first such mobilization since World War II – signifying a major escalation of the war, now in its seventh month.
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