BREAKING: U.S. Expat Edward Snowden Granted Russian Citizenship

Former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden received Russian citizenship on Monday on the order of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Putin signed the order granting Snowden, who has lived in Moscow since 2013 evading U.S. authorities, Russian citizenship, according to Reuters. Snowden previously received permanent residency to live in Russia in October 2020.

Snowden worked as a contractor for the National Security Agency in 2013 when he left his job at an NSA facility in Hawaii and flew to Hong Kong. From there, Snowden released thousands of documents on U.S. domestic surveillance programs and global security operations.

This is a breaking story. Check back for updates.

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