Russian authorities have extended the Russian residency permit of the US intelligence leaker “Edward Snowden” by two years, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
The former National Security Agency contractor shook the American intelligence establishment to its core in 2013 with a series of devastating leaks on mass surveillance in the US and around the world.
“Snowden’s residence permit has just been extended by two years,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova posted on her Facebook page.
Snowden has been living in exile in Russia since 2013, where he ended up after spending weeks in the transit area of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport.
Meanwhile, Zakharova slammed the “ideology of betrayal” promoted by former CIA director Michael Morell who suggested Snowden be presented as the “perfect inauguration gift” from Vladimir Putin to Donald Trump.
Zakharova, responded sharply, stating that Russia does not betray its principles and does not hand out “gifts”.
“But seriously, the essence of what the [former] CIA [chief] is proposing, is the ideology of betrayal,” Zakharova wrote. “It is clear that, for the CIA-man’s firm, it is normal to present people as gifts and give up those who seek protection.”
