The existing evidence seems to suggest that Snowden was not actively trying to flee to Russia, but ended up stuck there due to reasons outside of his control.

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throwawayq3423 3 days ago | parent [-]

That is his narrative, yes. Meanwhile, there's no evidence he was trying to get to South America as he claimed.

What we know is he went to China, then Russia.

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monerozcash 2 days ago | parent [-]

Well, we know at the very least that he obviously had no control over when his passport was going to be added to the SLTD database.

Also, it's not clear why he would have wanted to stay in Moscow if he had a choice. If he had prior contact with Russian authorities, they presumably wouldn't have made him stay at Sheremetyevo for over a month.

Also it's worth noting that in 2013 Russia had much friendlier relations with the US. This was pre-Crimea. It’s not surprising that it took Russia so long to decide what to do with Snowden. Eventually, they concluded that letting him stay wouldn’t significantly harm their relationship with the US while also gaining goodwill elsewhere.

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throwawayq3423 2 days ago | parent [-]

> no control over when his passport

> wanted to stay in Moscow if he had a choice

None of this has to do with his decision to seek protection from the Russian government, which is a formal arrangement with their security services, whether you want to acknowledge it or not.

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monerozcash 2 days ago | parent [-]

I don't think you can approach this subject in good faith and arrive at that conclusion.

His options at that point were pretty much limited to prison in the US or seeking protection from the Russian government. If you wouldn't have made the same choice as him in that situation, you can reasonably criticize his choice, you'll just have a hard time convincing anyone that you would've chosen prison in that situation.

There's also no evidence that his arrangement involves any work on behalf of the Russian government.

	▲	throwawayq3423 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		> His options at that point were pretty much limited to prison in the US or seeking protection from the Russian government You're just justifying his decision, not refuting that he made it.