Snowden Gets the Russian Pass, Not from an NSA Spy Jam
When the world was still buzzing about a whistle‑blower’s daring escape in 2013, Putin decided it was time to hand out a new ID card to a fellow runaway…
- On September 26, President Vladimir Putin officially fenced the Russian citizenship to former US intelligence asset Edward Snowden.
- Snowden, 39, has been calling Russia home since the NSA files leak blew up his ties to the U.S. 9 years earlier.
- The decree was just one of 72 foreign‑born people getting the “It’s an official citizen of Russia” stamp.
All About the Mission
Remember 2013? Snow blew the whistle on the NSA’s “big surveillance” scheme. The leak sent him into exile and, for years, the U.S. has wanted him to come back for an espionage trial.
Snow’s new post on Twitter—an updated take on his 2020 tweet—was all about family. “After years of parental separation, my wife and I really don’t want our sons to lose the sense of togetherness,” he wrote. “A little stability would fix a lot for us. Privacy is what we need— for us all.”
Just the Voice of Snowden
The tweet didn’t mention the Kremlin hand‑shake, but it was linked to a 2020 thread where Snow said he and his wife was in line for dual U.S.–Russian citizenship.
Funny Russian Replies
Only five days after Putin announced Russia’s first public mobilisation since WW2, a few Russian netizens giggled: “Will Snowden be drafted?”
Margarita Simonyan, the RT editor‑in‑chief, replied from her Telegram with a darkly humorous jab.
Snow’s Legal Shield
Snow’s lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, told RIA news that even if he was “nudged” into the draft, he’d be exempt: he never served in the Russian Armed Forces. He also mentioned Snowden’s wife, Lindsay Mills—who gave birth to a son in 2020—will get the same pass.
US Department’s Perspective
State Department spokesperson Ned Price said he was not aware of any citizenship change. “I’m aware Snowden has voiced discontent with his American identity, but I don’t know if he formally renounced it,” Price said during a briefing.
History of the Historic Hand‑shake
Russia had already granted Snowden permanent residency back in 2020, paving the road to this citizenship. That same year a U.S. appeals court declared the telecom‑spy program unlawful and exposed how the intelligence leaders had misled the public.
Fast‑forward to 2017 when Putin—once a spy chief—recorded that Snow’s leaks were wrong but he wasn’t a traitor. Now, Biden fits the bill? Well, only time tells.
