Russian President Vladimir Putin granted citizenship to U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden in a presidential decree published Monday.
Snowden has been living in Russia since 2013, after the United States charged the former intelligence analyst contractor under the 1917 Espionage Act for leaking highly classified documents about government surveillance programs.
He was granted permanent residency in 2020 and applied for Russian citizenship two years ago to prevent a scenario where he may become separated from his then-unborn son “in an era of pandemics and closed borders,” saying he wanted to keep his U.S. citizenship at the same time.
During his time in Moscow, Snowden has occasionally criticized Russian government policies on social media, but otherwise has largely kept a low profile politically.
The presidential decree granted citizenship to more than 70 foreign nationals in total. It comes less than a week after the Russian president announced a partial mobilization of reservists to fight in Ukraine, deploying an additional 300,000 soldiers, who have military experience and specialized training. This move has sparked protests throughout the country and prompted a wave of young Russian men to flee abroad.
