Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed the decree granting citizenship to the former collaborator of the American intelligence services, the whistleblower Edward Snowden.
Snowden had fled the United States and sought asylum in Russia, after he published secret files of US intelligence operations in 2013 regarding wiretapping both abroad and inside the country.
After handing over these documents to journalists, Snowden left the United States and went to Hong Kong, and from Hong Kong to Moscow.
In Moscow, he spent an indefinite amount of time in a transit zone at Shermetyevo airport, where the Russian president then granted him temporary asylum for a period of one year.
In August 2014, he received a three-year residence permit, which enabled him to travel not only within Russia but also to leave that country.
After receiving the permanent residence permit, in November 2020 it was announced that Snowden requested to be granted Russian citizenship.
American authorities have been demanding for years that Snowden be returned to the United States, to face justice under the charge of espionage.