On Sunday, former NSA contractor Edward Snowden shared a post on Twitter, reading "Good morning" in Russian, with a picture of a Soviet-era poster showing a family of three, all smiles.
The caption on the poster reads: "Mutual respect in a family. Caring about children's upbringing."
The post has left netizens baffled, with many speculating about what it means.
Many of those who follow Snowden's Twitter have pointed out that not so long ago the former NSA contractor tweeted in another language – Persian. Interestingly, many comments under the recent Russian post are in Persian.
In another tweet posted on 22 October, Snowden commented on a previous tweet, also in Persian, writing "I am just saying that cats are so popular." His comment followed previous tweet made a day earlier, which contains the Iranian proverb "Walls have mice, mice have ears."
In 2013, Snowden leaked classified data while working for the NSA and CIA. His disclosures focused on global surveillance programmes run by the NSA and the Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance in cooperation with some telecommunication companies and European governments. After quitting his job at the NSA, Snowden flew to Hawaii where he passed over thousands of classified documents to journalists. Later, stories based on his revelations were published in The Guardian and The Washington Post.
In June 2013, the US Justice Department charged Snowden with violating the Espionage Act of 1917 and government property theft. The Department of State revoked his passport. Snowden flew to Russia where was subsequently given the right of asylum and permanent residency in October 2020.