<p>Former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, who exposed the scale of secret surveillance by the National Security Agency (NSA), has sworn an oath of allegiance to Russia and received a Russian passport, <em>TASS </em>reported on Friday.</p>.<p>"Yes, he got [a passport], he took the oath," Anatoly Kucherena, Snowden's lawyer, told the state news agency <em>TASS</em>.</p>.<p>Snowden, 39, did not immediately reply to a message seeking comment on the report.</p>.<p>President Vladimir Putin <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/vladimir-putin-grants-edward-snowden-russian-citizenship-1148470.html" target="_blank">in September granted Russian citizenship to Snowden</a>, who fled the United States after leaking secret files that revealed the extensive eavesdropping activities of the United States and its allies.</p>.<p>Defenders of Snowden hail him as a modern day dissident for exposing the extent of US spying. Opponents say he is a traitor who endangered lives by exposing the secret methods that Western spies use to listen in on hostile states and militants.</p>
<p>Former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, who exposed the scale of secret surveillance by the National Security Agency (NSA), has sworn an oath of allegiance to Russia and received a Russian passport, <em>TASS </em>reported on Friday.</p>.<p>"Yes, he got [a passport], he took the oath," Anatoly Kucherena, Snowden's lawyer, told the state news agency <em>TASS</em>.</p>.<p>Snowden, 39, did not immediately reply to a message seeking comment on the report.</p>.<p>President Vladimir Putin <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/vladimir-putin-grants-edward-snowden-russian-citizenship-1148470.html" target="_blank">in September granted Russian citizenship to Snowden</a>, who fled the United States after leaking secret files that revealed the extensive eavesdropping activities of the United States and its allies.</p>.<p>Defenders of Snowden hail him as a modern day dissident for exposing the extent of US spying. Opponents say he is a traitor who endangered lives by exposing the secret methods that Western spies use to listen in on hostile states and militants.</p>