Former US National Security Agency (NSA) analyst Edward Snowden has received Russian citizenship, state news agencies reported on Monday.
“Edward Joseph Snowden, born in the United States on June 21, 1983, is on the list of naturalized persons,” says the Tass text, based on a decree signed by the country’s president, Vladimir Putin. and this benefits 72 people.
The American sent asylum applications to multiple countries in 2013 after revealing classified documents proving that the NSA was spying on top politicians from several US partner countries, including Germany, France, Norway, and Brazil – including then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.
Moscow accepted the request, and since 2014 Snowden has been living in the country.
In October 2020, the Putin government authorized the former analyst to live “indefinitely” in Russia.
About a month later, his lawyer Anatoly Kucherena announced that he would apply for citizenship.
source: Noticias
