Putin grants Russian citizenship to tech whiz Edward Snowden

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has granted Russian citizenship to former U.S. security contractor Edward Snowden. Putin signed a decree Monday announcing the move. Snowden is one of 75 foreign citizens listed by the decree as being granted Russian citizenship. Snowden is a former contractor with the U.S. National Security Agency. He has been living in Russia since 2013 to escape prosecution in the U.S. after leaking classified documents detailing government surveillance programs. He was granted permanent residency in 2020 and said at the time that he planned to apply for Russian citizenship without renouncing his U.S. citizenship. Snowden has said he made the disclosures because he believed the U.S. intelligence community had gone too far and wrongly infringed on civil liberties.