Snowden's status in Russia is more that of a pet, or a trophy -- up for trade at any moment, for a high enough price -- than that of a political refugee.

And he knows it, which is why he's trying to GTHO of there (even at the price of a reasonably short prison sentence in the U.S.).

I was joking (could I say deadpanning?), the serious part being that Snowden showed a need for freedom from US-made software (regardless of citizens' freedoms), and that the rest of the world tries hard to look so bad that it makes Russia look better than it deserves.

I wonder what Russia would have done to him, had he been a Russian citizen leaking / revealing vast amounts of their classified information. Pretty obvious what would have happened, and it's also obvious why Russia gave him asylum.

There's a reason Snowden would leave Russia at the earliest possibility.

They would have done the same as the US.

Plus or minus some polonium. Assassinations aren't uncommon in Russia among the opposition.

I'm skeptical Russia would allow someone like William Binney to walk around saying the things he has been for years. Or that Russia wouldn't essentially rig a sentence up for someone like Daniel Ellsberg, given Russia's extraordinarily corrupt justice system.

I'm no conspiracy theorist but if Snowden hadn't have gone public so quickly I believe he would be dead or disappeared. It's easy to look at the horrible things countries like Russia have done/do but let's not forget things like illegal rendition and torture that the US has done with the backing of other major countries.