From American to Russian?
According to a decree published on Monday, Vladimir Putin agrees to give whistleblower Edward Snowden Russian citizenship.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Ria Novosti news agency that Russian citizenship was granted to the former NSA employee at his own request.
The whistleblower's Russian lawyer, Anatoli Koutcherena, for his part specified that Edward Snowden would not be affected by the mobilization order for the offensive in Ukraine, decreed by Vladimir Putin last week for certain categories of Russians.
"He did not serve in the Russian army and therefore, according to our current legislation, he does not fall into this category of citizens who are now called up," he told the Ria Novosti agency.
His wife also requested
According to him, Edward Snowden's partner, Lindsay Mills, has also applied for Russian citizenship and their daughter already has it, having been born in Russia.
The 39-year-old former NSA employee is wanted by the United States for having transmitted to the press tens of thousands of documents proving the extent of electronic surveillance carried out by Washington.
After fleeing his native country, he first went to Hong Kong.
He then arrived in Russia in 2013, where he eventually got stuck.
Edward Snowden first benefited from a one-year right of asylum, then from a three-year residence permit, extended in 2017. In 2020, he had obtained a permanent resident title.
The whistleblower's name appears alongside dozens of others in Monday's decree granting him Russian citizenship.