MOSCOW, September 26. /TASS/. Former employee of the US National Security Agency Edward Snowden has been granted Russian citizenship, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decree published on Monday.
"Edward Joseph Snowden, born June 21, 1983 in the United States of America," said the decree’s list of new Russian citizens.
In 2013, Snowden made public information about the methods of electronic surveillance of US and UK special services, as well as the fact that they transfer personal data of their citizens to each other. Snowden also asserted that the special services of these countries were engaged in illegal monitoring of conversations between leaders of foreign countries. Fleeing persecution in the US, he sent requests for an asylum to some governments, including Russian. In 2014, he received the first residence permit in the Russian Federation, and later the right to an indefinite stay in the country.