(DCWatchdog.com) – Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has mocked Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin after the latter gave full citizenship to Edward Snowden, the former NSA employee.
Back in 2013, the then US intelligence contractor became a whistleblower by exposing the mass-scale secret surveillance operations of the National Security Agency.
Snowden ended up in Moscow after fleeing prosecution in the US and getting refused political asylum by several countries.
The US government has been trying for years to achieve the repatriation of the 39-year-old NSA whistleblower so that he could face espionage charges.
Putin’s decision to give Snowden Russian citizenship on Monday came amid his failing war to conquer Ukraine, which last week forced him to announce the mobilization of hundreds of thousands of military-aged men.
Sen. Lindsey Graham argued that the Russian President’s “days are numbered” and ridiculed Putin’s move by saying that Snowden is now eligible for mobilization and ought to be drafted and sent to fight in Ukraine.
“Now that Edward Snowden has been granted full Russian citizenship, I expect he will be on the battlefield in Ukraine fighting for Putin any day now,” Graham wrote on Twitter.
“Or could it be that he will be exempt while other Russian citizens are told to fight in a war of aggression on Putin’s behalf?” the South Carolina US Senator wondered.
“I believe now, more than ever, Putin’s days are numbered,” Graham quipped further.
Earlier this year, Graham openly called for the assassination of the Russian leader because the latter caused the war in Ukraine, the biggest in Europe since the Second World War.
“I hope he’ll be taken out, one way or another. I don’t care how they take him out. I don’t care if we send him to the Hague and try him, I just want him to go,” Graham had told CNN.
Last week, the Republican US Senator told Newsmax that Putin’s new nuclear war threats against the United States and its allies were “gaslighting.”
“He’s losing. He’s losing on the battlefield, and about 20 political figures [in Russia] call for him to resign,” Graham said.
While the Russian regime has publicly claimed it would mobilize about 300,000 military reservists, a leaked document has revealed the figure of 1.2 million.
Data from independent news outlets shows that more than 261,000 military-aged Russian males fled abroad in the first five days after Putin’s mobilization order.
Sen. Lindsey Graham says Vladimir Putin's "days are numbered." https://t.co/DBm6lSqRyN pic.twitter.com/yjFoN5FPNW
— Newsmax (@newsmax) September 26, 2022
