Edward Snowden, a former US intelligence contractor, was given Russian citizenship on Monday after President Vladimir Putin signed a decree.
After releasing classified documents in 2013 that exposed extensive domestic and international monitoring activities conducted by the US National Security Agency, where Snowden, 39, was a contractor, was employed, he fled the US and was granted refuge in Russia.
US officials have long demanded that Snowden be returned to the country to stand prosecution for espionage.