Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Monday granting Russian citizenship to the US whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Snowden, 39, a former US intelligence contractor, has been living in Russia since 2013 to escape prosecution in the US after leaking secret files, published by the Guardian, that revealed vast domestic and international surveillance operations carried out by the US National Security Agency.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Monday granting Russian citizenship to former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.

Driving the news: Snowden fled the United States and was given asylum in Russia after revealing classified documents about the U.S. government's mass surveillance program in 2013.

Snowden was granted permanent residency in Russia in October 2020, but his lawyers said at the time that he was not considering applying for Russian citizenship.

Anti-surveillance whistleblower — and accused spy — Edward Snowden was granted Russian citizenship Monday, according to a decree signed by Vladimir Putin.

The former NSA contractor was among 75 foreign nationals given Russian citizenship with the stroke of Putin’s pen.

Snowden has been living in Russia since 2013, when he fled there after leaking classified documents that revealed the mass surveillance of American citizens by their own intelligence apparatus.

The Russian passport was granted at Snowden’s request, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.