(Kremlin.ru – July 1, 2013) [Excerpt re Snowden] QUESTION: Do you think that Mr Snowden will fly away with one of the delegates from this meeting? VLADIMIR PUTIN: You have to ask the delegates, I don’t know. I want to emphasise (we can never get away from this topic, it seems) that Mr Snowden is not our agent, never was, […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, July 1, 2013) Russian lawmakers and officials voiced support for fugitive US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden at a round table meeting in the Public Chamber on Monday, in contrast to muted comments by the Kremlin’s spokesperson who has said that Snowden is “not on the Kremlin’s agenda.” The head of Russia’s Presidential Human Rights Council, […]
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(RIA Novosti – Fyodor Lukyanov, Editor-in-Chief of the Russia in Global Affairs journal, authoritative source of expertise on Russian foreign policy and global developments – June 28, 2013) The Snowden affair is fresh evidence of how much the world has changed in a historically short period of time. In the not too distant past, spies were the main target in […]
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(Moscow News/RIA Novosti – themosconews.com – Dmitry Vinogradov, RIA Novosti – June 27, 2013) SHEREMETYEVO A burlesque of Steven Spielberg’s The Terminal is being staged in Terminal E of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport. Hordes of journalists flocked to the airport in the last several days hoping to find Edward Snowden, the NSA whistleblower who emerged into the global spotlight after […]
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(Interfax – June 28, 2013) Russian Human Rights Commissioner Vladimir Lukin does not think Russia should grant political refuge to CIS intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, and he sees his emergence at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport as not accidental. “Should we grant him political refuge? I can’t answer this question by saying ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’ I have doubts,” Lukin told Interfax on […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Michael Bohm, opinion page Editor of The Moscow Times – June 28, 2013) Is Edward Snowden a traitor or hero? While public opinion in the U.S. clearly favors traitor, Russian politicians and the Kremlin-friendly media have turned him into a “hero of democracy” and a “U.S. dissident.” Alexei Pushkov, the State Duma’s International Affairs Committee […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, June 26, 2013) Fugitive former CIA employee Edward Snowden, who is wanted by the United States for leaking state secrets, is not collaborating with Russia’s Federal Security Service, the FSB, anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks said on its Twitter feed Wednesday. “Mr. Snowden is not being ‘debriefed’ by the FSB. He is well, and WikiLeaks’ Harrison is […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Natalia Antonova, Acting Editor-in-Chief – June 24, 2013) Whatever you think about whistleblower Edward Snowden’s future plans (or, indeed, his whereabouts) – you may be falling for a neat trick all of the same. While all of us have been busy discussing Snowden – why he did what he did, his personality, whether or not […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, June 26, 2013) US whistleblower Edward Snowden, stuck in a Russian airport since Sunday, appeared to have a transit visa but even if he does not, he may get away with just a small fine, a Russian border guards spokesman told RIA Novosti on Wednesday. “Looks like he’s got a visa, that’s why he’s […]
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(Interfax -MOSCOW. June 26, 2013) Alexei Pushkov, the head of the State Duma committee on international affairs, considers former CIA official Edward Snowden, who is wanted by the U.S. authorities, a dissident. “Assange, Manning and Snowden were not spies and released secret information because of their convictions, not for money. They are new dissidents, fighters against the system,” Pushkov said […]
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(RIA Novosti – Carl Schreck, WASHINGTON, June 24, 2013) Former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden’s reported sojourn in Moscow this week is the latest in a series of cases in recent years to rattle U.S.-Russia ties over cooperation in politically tinged criminal investigations. “Both sides have tended to regard as a purely criminal investigation [what] the other side thinks […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines/Interfax – rbth.ru – Interfax, Combined report – June 23, 2013) Russian officials are puzzled in what country former CIA officer Edward Snowden is going to apply for political asylum. Amid media reports about former CIA officer Edward Snowden’s arrival to Moscow, some Russian officials comment on the consequences of granting political asylum to him. Chairman of […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Bratersky – June 13, 2013) Self-exiled economist Sergei Guriev met with the Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich on Wednesday in Paris his first informal get together with a senior Russian official since he left the country last month, fearing pressure from law enforcement agencies. Guriev, who headed the liberal New Economic School until […]
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(RIA Novosti – RIO DE JANEIRO, June 12, 2013) The head of Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that he has no information about US whistleblower Edward Snowden seeking asylum in Russia. “I haven’t heard about there being a formal [asylum] request from Snowden,” Sergei Lavrov said at a press conference in Rio de Janeiro. Russia will review the request […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 11, 2013) The United States will be hysterical if Russia grants political asylum to (name/post redacted), State Duma International Affairs Committee Chairman Alexei Pushkov tweeted on Tuesday. “By promising asylum to (name redacted), Moscow undertakes the protection of persons persecuted for political motives. The U.S. will be hysterical. They recognize it as their right,” he said. […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Anna Arutunyan – January 28, 2013) When Ali applied for asylum in Austria, he thought that any kind of life would be better than facing rampant power abuses in Russia’s restive republic of Chechnya. Instead, he found himself fending off questions about whether he was a terrorist. And the scrutiny continued after his asylum was […]
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(Nikolaus von Twickel – Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – January 23, 2013) The suicide of activist Alexander Dolmatov in a Dutch extradition center has highlighted the challenges for Russian opposition members to get political asylum in Europe, but his tragic case does not mean that obtaining asylum has become impossible, experts said Tuesday. Dolmatov was found dead last Thursday in […]
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