Russia was a very different country in 2013. He was deeply convinced he was doing the right thing, so I totally understand why he doesn't want to face US prosecution. It all comes down to the moral quandary if his whistleblowing was ethical or unethical.
Russia was NOT a very different country. Sorry, but no.
I remember Putin's rise to power - I was 13 at the time. Now I'm 37 and basically a refugee (made a few stupid decisions, now who knows what happen if I decide to go see my parents). Putin's Russia turned into a brutally authoritarian country around 2011 when there were widespread protests condemning heavily falsified municipal elections.
In 2012, we were almost certain that Putin's days are over... in 2018 I remember myself standing in scalding Moscow sun at the Sakharov square at a protest against Telegram being blocked, wearing a Tor T-shirt and handing over flyers and materials telling people how to evade government blocks on the net.
Now, I just don't care. I feel deeply betrayed by my own country and sometimes I wish Russia was nuked out of existence. And yet, this is the country where my parents live, and many of my friends who couldn't leave.
This all is hell on Earth for me -- I have many Ukrainian and Russian friends -- we try to help each other, but currently I'm losing all hope at at least somewhat sane resolution of it all. My friends are equally desperate - many turned refugees and asylum seekers, many without work or language knowledge in foreign countries...
Sometimes I just wish life on Earth never existed at all.
