The former NSA contractor who leaked classified documents has been living in Russia for almost 10 years.
of putting U.S. personnel at risk and damaging national security. He currently faces charges in the United States that could result in decades in prison.
Snowden, however, has never served in the Russian armed forces, so he is not eligible to be mobilized, his lawyer Anatoly Kucherena told the Interfax news agency. Having previous combat or military service experience has been considered the main criterion in the call-up. Andrei Soldatov, a Russian investigative journalist known for his exposés of Moscow security services, said that “strictly speaking, could be drafted, strictly in theory.” But that would be bad PR for the Kremlin so it won’t happen, said Soldatov, who is on Russia’s wanted list for “spreading false information.” Russian authorities have also frozen his bank accounts and he lives in exile.
James Clapper, who served as U.S. director of national intelligence at the time of the disclosures, said Snowden’s grant of citizenship came with “rather curious timing.” Snowden says he made the disclosures because he believed the U.S. intelligence community had gone too far and wrongly infringed on civil liberties. He also has said he didn’t believe the administration of former President Barack Obama, which was in office when Snowden leaked the records to journalists, would act had he made an internal whistleblower complaint instead.
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