Snowden won Russian nationality

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, September 27th. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a presidential order on the 26th to give more than 70 foreigners Russian citizenship including former US defense contractor Edward Snowden.

Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov told media reporters that Snowden applied to join Russia in 2020, and now the Russian government has approved its citizenship application.

"After being separated from my parents for many years, my wife and I don't want to separate from our son." Snowden wrote on social media: "After two years of waiting and nearly 10 years of exile, a little stability is to my family. It is meaningful. "

On July 12, 2013, journalists opened the web to browse Snowden's message in Moscow, the capital of Russia. Xinhua News Agency reporter Jiang Kehong Photo

Snowden was born in North Carolina, USA in 1983. In 2013, he exposed a large -scale secret monitoring project such as "Prism" and other American intelligence agencies, and international public opinion was shocked. The documents he disclosed showed that the "Prism" project not only listened to the phone and monitored Internet communication content on the United States and residents, but also the European dignitaries and people in France and Germany were also listened to the United States.

Snowden was wanted by the US government for spy, theft, and unauthorized leakage of national defense and intelligence information. Since 2013, it has been in Russia's political refuge in Russia, and has obtained Russia's permanent residence qualification in 2020.

Snowden's lawyer Anatoli Cunnana told Russia on the 26th that Mrs. Snowden Lindsay Mills will also apply for Russian.

Snowden said before that their couples will hold Russia and the United States with dual nationality, and he looks forward to returning to the United States one day to reunite with his family.

American State Department spokesman Ned Price said on the 26th that Snowden still retains US citizenship. "As far as I know, his (US) citizenship has not changed."

The White House refused to directly comment on Snowden to get Russian nationality. The White House press secretary Karina Jean-Pierre said on the 26th that in view of Snowden's criminal charges, he could find the Ministry of Justice to understand his specific situation.

Source: Xinhua News Agency Guangzhou Daily · Xinhua City Editor: Long Chengliu

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