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Snowden's wife, Lindsay, is expecting a child in late December,
the RIA news agency cited Anatoly Kucherena, his Russian lawyer,
as saying.
Snowden, 37, fled the United States and was given asylum in
Russia after leaking secret files in 2013 that revealed vast
domestic and international surveillance operations carried out
by the U.S. National Security Agency where he was a contractor.
U.S. authorities have for years wanted Snowden returned to the
United States to face a criminal trial on espionage charges
brought in 2013.
"After years of separation from our parents, my wife and I have
no desire to be separated from our son. That's why, in this era
of pandemics and closed borders, we're applying for dual
US-Russian citizenship," Snowden wrote on Twitter.
"Lindsay and I will remain Americans, raising our son with all
the values of the America we love — including the freedom to
speak his mind. And I look forward to the day I can return to
the States, so the whole family can be reunited.
Our greatest wish is that, wherever our son lives, he feels at
home."
Russia has already granted Snowden permanent residency rights,
his lawyer said last month, a vital step towards Russian
citizenship.
U.S. President Donald Trump said in August he was considering a
pardon for Snowden. Trump is running for a second presidential
term against Democratic challenger Joe Biden at elections on
Tuesday.
Snowden keeps a low profile in Russia. He has praised the
country's natural beauty and the warmth of its people, while
using social media to criticise government policy from time to
time.
(Reporting by Anton Kolodyazhnyy/Tom Balmforth; editing by
Andrew Osborn)
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