US whistleblower Edward Snowden applies for Russian citizenship 

Edward Snowden leaked files that revealed US surveillance 

Credit: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

The US whistleblower Edward Snowden has said he is applying for Russian citizenship in order to keep his family together because of travel difficulties during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

A former contractor for the National Security Agency, Mr Snowden fled the US in 2013 after leaking explosive files that revealed how America spied on its own citizens and foreign allies. 

He was granted asylum in Moscow, where he and his American life Lindsay are expecting their first child in December.

“After years of separation from our parents, my wife and I have no desire to be separated from our son,” the 37-year old in a tweet. “That’s why, in this era of pandemics and closed borders, we’re applying for dual US-Russian citizenship.”

He added: “Lindsay and I will remain Americans, raising our son with all the values of the America we love—including the freedom to speak his mind. And I look forward to the day I can return to the States, so the whole family can be reunited.”

Mr Snowden was given permanent residency in Russia last month, in a step towards citizenship. Russian immigration laws were relaxed this year to allow foreigners to become citizens without renouncing their original nationality.

This summer, US President Donald Trump suggested he would consider pardoning the former intelligence contractor, who still faces espionage charges if he returns to America. But Mr Snowden said then he did not expect any imminent decision to be reached.

Mr Snowden keeps a relatively low profile in Moscow, though he continues to speak and write on surveillance, and occasionally criticises the Russian government. 

When opposition figure Alexei Navalny was poisoned in August, Mr Snowden said it was “a crime against the whole of Russia,” adding that “there can be no democracy without dissent”.