In the early afternoon, news arrived on the American east coast that Edward Snowden is now also a Russian. The Kremlin had previously published a decree according to which the American and 74 other foreigners were given Russian passports. It wasn’t the top news in the US media, it’s more about the upcoming elections, a growing storm off Florida, the stock market and also the war in Ukraine. But of course the news caught my attention.
As a former employee of the National Security Agency, or NSA for short, Snowden gave the newspapers hundreds of top-secret documents in 2013 The Guardians and Washington Post send. In doing so, he exposed international espionage programs and from then on was seen by some as a whistleblower and hero, but by the US government as a spy and traitor. In his homeland he would face up to 30 years in prison.
Julian Assange had found refuge in Ecuador’s embassy in London, while Snowden wanted to seek asylum in South America. However, he ended up fleeing US authorities via Hong Kong at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, stayed in the transit zone for 40 days and has now been living in the Russian capital for nine years.
In a documentary by Oliver Stone, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Snowden was not a traitor, “he has not betrayed his country’s interests”. In 2014, Snowden’s girlfriend Lindsay Mills moved in with him, in 2017 the two married and have a son. In 2020, the exile announced on Twitter that he did not want to be separated from his son after years of separation from his parents. Therefore, in times of pandemic and closed borders, he and his wife sought dual US-Russian citizenship.
He wants to stay American
Now he has her, she’s also applying, but that doesn’t seem to change the situation for the USA much. A spokeswoman for the White House referred to the Justice Department that criminal charges had been brought against him. The only thing that has changed is that the 39-year-old may be drafted into the Russian war in Ukraine due to his new Russian citizenship, according to the US State Department, according to CNN. “Mr. Snowden should return to the United States, where he should face justice like any other American citizen.”
Apparently he would like to. Snowden also tweeted two years ago that he and Lindsay would remain Americans and would raise their son with all the values of the America “we love, including the freedom to speak your mind.” And he looks forward to one day returning to the United States so the family can be reunited. But that’s unlikely to happen as long as he faces a trial and lengthy prison sentence at home
In Russia, the new citizen has nothing to fear in this regard, but he hardly finds the freedom of expression he desires in Putin’s empire. In addition, hundreds of thousands of reservists are being called to arms to continue the attack on Ukraine after severe setbacks. The State Department had also reminded us of that. But the New York Times quotes the Russian news agency RIA Novostiafter which Snowden’s lawyer Anatoly Kutscherena assured that his client was not part of the partial mobilization: Snowden was not eligible for conscription because he had no experience with the Russian army.