Snowden to work for major Russian website, possibly VKontakte

Advertisement
By Agence France-Presse | Updated: 1 November 2013 13:17 IST
US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden will on Friday start working for a major Russian website, his lawyer said, sparking speculation his new employer could be Russia's largest social network.

Snowden's lawyer Anatoly Kucherena declined to give the name of the company but attention centred on VKontakte which is seen as the Russian equivalent of Facebook.

"Edward Snowden will start working at a big Russian company on Friday, November 1. His job will be to support and develop a major Russian website," Kucherena told the Interfax news agency.

(Also see: Edward Snowden gets job offer from Russia's top social networking site)

Advertisement

The charismatic founder of VKontakte Pavel Durov, often described as the Russian Mark Zuckerberg after the equally youthful Facebook supremo, publicly offered Snowden a post in August.

Advertisement

"We invite Edward Snowden to Saint Petersburg and will be glad if he decides to join the star team of programmers," Durov wrote on his social networking page on the same day as Snowden received asylum in the country.

Twenty-nine-year-old Durov, who co-founded the social networking service in 2006, suggested Snowden could work on "protecting the personal data of millions of our users".

Advertisement

VKontakte, or In Touch, says it has over 100 million users.

VKontakte spokesman Georgy Lobushkin told RIA Novosti news agency he could not comment on speculation that Snowden would work there.

Advertisement

Two other major Russian Internet companies, Mail.Ru Group and Yandex, issued outright denials, saying they had not hired Snowden, RIA Novosti reported.

Snowden spent more than a month in a Moscow airport before receiving a year's temporary asylum August after exposing massive surveillance by the US National Security Agency.

His lawyer has said in interviews that the fugitive is running short of money. So far a supporters' website has raised almost $49,000 in donations.

Snowden willing to 'shed light' on US spying in Germany

Lawyer Kucherena told Interfax that her client would not respond to questions from foreign secret services about US spying which has caused an uproar after revelations of eavesdropping on foreign leaders.

"According to an agreement, while he is in Russia, he cannot reveal secret information," she said, responding to a question on the possibility her client could be questioned over suspected eavesdropping on German Chancellor Angela Merkel

However German public television ARD reported Thursday that Snowden had met with Green Party lawmaker Christian Strobele in a secret location with two journalists.

"He proved that he knows many things. He is willing in principle to help shed light" on the spying, Strobele told the station.

He added that Snowden declared his willingness "to come to Germany to testify" if the right conditions were in place, or to testify in Russia.

The most recent revelations from intelligence leaked by Snowden came in a Washington Post report alleging that NSA technicians had tapped into Yahoo and Google data centres around the world, winning access to vast amounts of private data.

Wanted for espionage by Washington, Snowden has been living in hiding and keeping off the radar in Moscow with what his lawyer called "small alterations in his appearance."

Popular Russian website Life News published a photograph on Thursday apparently showing Snowden on a boat trip in central Moscow, without glasses and wearing a cloth cap.

The website, which specialises in sensational scoops, said the photograph was taken in September and that it paid 100,000 rubles ($3,122) for the image.

The same website earlier this month published a photograph of Snowden pushing a shopping trolley, later confirmed as authentic by Kucherena.

Life News, which has close contacts with law enforcement officials, said the photograph "proves that the former US agent either lives permanently in Moscow or visits regularly".

A video was released this month showing Snowden meeting four US whistleblowers, who presented him with an award in an unidentified location that appeared to be in Russia.

 

Get your daily dose of tech news, reviews, and insights, in under 80 characters on Gadgets 360 Turbo. Connect with fellow tech lovers on our Forum. Follow us on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News for instant updates. Catch all the action on our YouTube channel.

Further reading: Edward Snowden, Internet, NSA
Advertisement

Related Stories

Popular Mobile Brands
  1. Samsung Galaxy S26+ Reportedly Listed for Sale Online Ahead of Launch
  2. Lava Bold N2 Will Be Launched in India on This Date: See Expected Specs
  3. Vivo X300 FE Reportedly Bags IMDA and TUV Certifications Ahead of Launch
  4. AMD and TCS Partner on Rack-Scale AI and HPC Infrastructure
  5. Xiaomi 17 Series Leak Hints at Imminent Launch Ahead of MWC at These Prices
  6. Apple to Reportedly Launch Low-Cost MacBook in 'Playful Colors' in March
  7. AI Impact Summit: From Registration to Schedule, All You Need to Know
  8. Kingdom Come: Deliverance Gets a Next-Gen Update on PS5, Xbox Series S/X
  9. Oppo Find X10 Series Could Debut This Year With This iPhone-Like Feature
  10. Poco X8 Pro Spotted on Geekbench With This Dimensity 8000 Series Chipset
  1. Sony Could Reportedly Delay PS6 to as Late as 2029 Due to RAM Shortage
  2. iPhone 18 Series to Drop SIM Card Slot in Europe to Make Room for Slightly Larger Battery: Report
  3. Poco X8 Pro Spotted on Geekbench With MediaTek Dimensity 8500 Ultra SoC, Android 16
  4. Xiaomi 17, Xiaomi 17 Ultra Global Price Details, Launch Date and Colour Options Leaked
  5. X Building Smart 'Cashtags' to Let Users Check Cryptocurrency Prices in Real-Time
  6. Samsung Galaxy A27 5G Listing on IMEI Database Suggests a Galaxy A26 Successor Is on the Way
  7. Anthropic Inaugurates First Indian Office in Bengaluru, Starts Hiring Local Talent
  8. Apple Tipped to Adopt Samsung's Privacy Display Technology for MacBook Models by 2029
  9. Oppo Find X10 Series Tipped to Launch in H2 2026 With Built-In Magnets for Wireless Charging
  10. AMD and TCS to Co-Develop Helios AI Data Centre Architecture, Deliver 200MW Data Centre Blueprint
Gadgets 360 is available in
Download Our Apps
Available in Hindi
© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2026. All rights reserved.