Support The Moscow Times!

Snowden 'Brought No Secret Files to Russia'

Edward Snowden said that he gave all the classified documents he had about U.S. surveillance programs to journalists in Hong Kong before flying to Moscow in June, and that Russian and Chinese spies couldn't have got any sensitive files from him.

"There's a zero percent chance the Russians or Chinese have received any documents," he said in an interview with The New York Times published Thursday.

The interview took place over several days in the past week over an encrypted channel. Snowden, who is living at an undisclosed location in Russia, said he wasn't under Russian government control and was free to move around.

Snowden said he took no copies of classified materials with him when he flew to Moscow from Hong Kong in June.

"What would be the unique value of personally carrying another copy of the materials onward?" he said.

Snowden, who is facing espionage charges in the U.S. for leaking information about the government's extensive surveillance campaign to the media, said he believed he had acted in the people's best interests and had helped American national security by prompting a badly needed public debate about the scope of intelligence operations.

… we have a small favor to ask.

As you may have heard, The Moscow Times, an independent news source for over 30 years, has been unjustly branded as a "foreign agent" by the Russian government. This blatant attempt to silence our voice is a direct assault on the integrity of journalism and the values we hold dear.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. Our commitment to providing accurate and unbiased reporting on Russia remains unshaken. But we need your help to continue our critical mission.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just 2. It's quick to set up, and you can be confident that you're making a significant impact every month by supporting open, independent journalism. Thank you.

Continue

Read more