Home Foreign News Putin grants Russian citizenship to U.S. whistleblower, Snowden
Foreign NewsNews

Putin grants Russian citizenship to U.S. whistleblower, Snowden

Share
Share

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday granted citizenship to former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, nine years after he exposed the scale of secret surveillance operations by the National Security Agency (NSA).

Snowden, 39, fled the United States and was given asylum in Russia after leaking secret files in 2013 that revealed vast domestic and international surveillance operations carried out by the NSA, where he worked.

U.S. authorities have for years wanted him returned to the United States to face a criminal trial on espionage charges.

There was no immediate reaction from Snowden, whose name appeared without any Kremlin comment on a list of 72 foreign-born individuals on whom Putin was conferring citizenship.

In 2020, Russia granted Snowden permanent residency rights, paving the way for him to obtain Russian citizenship.

That year a U.S. appeals court found the program Snowden had exposed was unlawful and that the U.S. intelligence leaders who publicly defended it were not telling the truth.

Putin, a former Russian spy chief, said in 2017 that Snowden, who keeps a low profile while living in Russia, was wrong to leak U.S. secrets but was not a traitor.

Please follow and like us:
Share

Leave a comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Start your career with NNPC Limited

Start your career with NNPC Limited
Start your career with NNPC Limited

Member

Don't Miss

Why NCC plans to unveil incident reporting guidelines

W Please follow and like us:

Again Ikeja Electric customers experience frustration in recharging energy tokens

By Chioma Obinagwam Customers of Ikeja Electric Distribution Company (DisCo) have been thrown into darkness because they cannot buy tokens and some of...

Related Articles

Again Ikeja Electric customers experience frustration in recharging energy tokens

By Chioma Obinagwam Customers of Ikeja Electric Distribution Company (DisCo) have been...

In four photos, NCC reacts to Executive Order on Critical National Information Infrastructure

By Chioma Obinagwam The infrastructure of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has...

Denmark’s Consul General, FC4S Lagos, others collaborate for enhanced access to dairy products

By Chioma Obinagwam For Nigeria to achieve its nutritional goals, its teaming...

Philanthropists appeal to Lagos govt, NNPC others to fund surgery of journalist

By Chioma Obinagwam Some concerned citizens including media and corporate affairs practitioners...

Advertisements