Putin grants Russian citizenship to Edward Snowden

MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin has granted Russian citizenship to former US security guard Edward Snowden, according to a decree signed by the Russian leader on Monday.

Snowden is one of 75 foreign nationals listed by the decree as having been granted Russian citizenship. The decree was published on an official government website.

Snowden, a former contractor for the US National Security Agency, has lived in Russia since 2013 to escape prosecution in the US after leaking classified documents detailing government surveillance programs.

He was granted permanent residency in 2020 and said at the time that he planned to apply for Russian citizenship, without giving up his US citizenship.

Snowden’s lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, told Russian news agency RIA Novosti that the former entrepreneur’s wife, Lindsay Mills, an American who lived with him in Russia, would also apply for a Russian passport.

The couple had a child in December 2020.

Snowden, who has kept a low profile in Russia and has sometimes criticized Russian government policies on social media, said in 2019 he was ready to return to the United States if he was guaranteed a fair trial. .

He did not comment on obtaining Russian citizenship.