China News Agency, Moscow, November 2 (Reporter Wang Xiujun) Snowden, an employee of the former contractor of the US National Security Agency, said on social media that he was ready to apply for Russian citizenship and would have dual citizenship of the United States and Russia.
Snowden said that after experiencing long-term separation from his parents, he and his wife did not want to be separated from their son anymore, so they decided to apply for dual citizenship of the United States and Russia during the epidemic.
Snowden said that he and his wife will remain American citizens and look forward to the day when they return to the United States to reunite with their families.
Snowden’s lawyer Kucherena revealed that Snowden is currently preparing materials for obtaining Russian citizenship.
Earlier, Kucherena said that Snowden’s child will be born at the end of December and that the child will obtain Russian citizenship after birth.
In June 2013, Snowden exposed through the media two major secret intelligence surveillance projects of the US National Security Agency, including a network surveillance project code-named "Prism", which mainly targeted overseas targets, which caused an uproar in the international community.
On June 23, 2013, Snowden traveled to Russia and lived in the transit area of Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport for more than a month.
After that, Snowden obtained an asylum permit in Russia and lived in Russia for many years.
In October this year, Snowden was granted permanent residency in Russia.
Russian media on the 2nd quoted experts as saying that Snowden's acquisition of Russian citizenship will prevent him from being transferred to the United States.
(Finish)