Edward Snowden, who fled the United States after releasing intelligence secrets to the British press, is now living in fear in Russia, dressing in disguise whenever he leaves his house, his attorney said.
Mr. Snowden has been forced to live in hiding since June, said his attorney Anatoly Kucherena, according to Agence France-Presse. A guard stands 24 hours a day at his residence at an undisclosed location.
“I am his only link with the outside world at the moment,” he told a Russian weekly magazine. “Even his contacts with his parents are carried out through me.”
He’s forced to conceal his identity every time he leaves the residence, Mr. Kucherena said.
“He would walk past you and you wouldn’t recognize him,” he said. “It’s a question of clothes and small alterations to his appearance. So I’m not deceiving anyone — he really does walk freely around on the streets.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Snowden has occupied his time with learning the Russian language.
“He is an extremely fast learner as far as the Russian language is concerned,” Mr. Kucherena said. “He only needs a few hours or days to learn the ropes and start speaking.”
Mr. Snowden, a former CIA analyst, spent a month in Moscow’s airport before he was granted temporary amnesty.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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