MOSCOW (AP) – President Vladimir Putin has granted Russian citizenship to former US security contractor Edward Snowden, according to an executive order signed Monday by the Russian leader.
Snowden is one of 75 foreign nationals listed by decree as being granted Russian citizenship. The decree was published on an official government website.
Snowden, a former U.S. National Security Agency contractor, has lived in Russia since 2013 to avoid prosecution in the U.S. after leaking confidential documents detailing government surveillance programs.
He was granted permanent residency in 2020 and at the time said he intended to apply for Russian citizenship without giving up US citizenship.
Snowden’s lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, told Russian news agency RIA Novosti that the former businessman’s wife, Lindsay Mills, an American who lives with him in Russia, would also apply for a Russian passport.
The couple had a baby in December 2020.
Snowden, who has kept a low profile in Russia and sometimes criticizes the Russian government’s policies on social media, said in 2019 that he was ready to return to the United States if he was granted a fair trial.
He did not comment on obtaining Russian citizenship.