Snowden receives permanent residency in Russia
The lawyer for Edward Snowden, a former employee of the US defense contractor, said on the 22nd that Snowden's application for permanent residence had been approved by Russia.
Lawyer Anatoly Kucherena told reporters that Snowden's application in April was approved the same day, and the new crown epidemic made the approval process longer than ever.
Kucherena also said that Snowden is currently not considering applying for Russian citizenship.
Snowden is 37 years old. In 2013, he exposed large-scale secret surveillance projects by US intelligence agencies such as Prism. He was subsequently wanted by the US government for espionage, theft, and unauthorized disclosure of defense and intelligence information.
The Russian side later allowed Snowden to asylum.
US President Donald Trump said in August that he would consider pardoning Snowden.
(Zheng Haoning) [Xinhua News Agency Wei Feature]