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Comment by xaduha | Hacker News Reader

Would Putin even let him leave Russia?

It would look really bad for Russia if Snowden was held against his will.

There's a gradient between 'free' and 'held against his will', I'm sure there are plenty of ways Snowden can be discouraged from taking a chance like that.

They would care you think?

Actually the better question is why would they care about Snowden leaving (or not leaving) Russia? Or why wouldn't Putin let Snowden leave? Snowden is a minor liability for Russia.

I think Snowden is valuable to Putin, he's not just a liability.

Yeah, but Russia already looks pretty bad for a variety of other reasons. I don't find this a particularly compelling argument.

Currently Snowden have permanent residency for 3 years (as another country citizen), with right to leave RF for three months (if longer, permanent residency can be repealed). [1]https://www.justlanded.com/english/Russia/Russia-Guide/Visas...

Do they have a no-fly list now as well?

Norway and Russia share a land border.

With roads north of the arctic circle. It looks like it would be difficult to do that without crossing into either Sweden or Finland too, which would be an issue for Snowden.

No it isn't. Just take E105. "Refugees" use that route all the time. It's "straight" route from Moscow to Norway and then take E6 to Oslo.

But Norway is a Nato country so it's a trap. Don't go there.

With current pressure from Russia even neutral counties like Finland would probably gladly extradite Snowden to US.

The drive would take less than three days each way[1]. Spring is upon us, and the temperatures en-route currently straddle the freezing point[2][3].

[1] https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/Moscow,+Russia/Oslo,+Norwa...

[2] https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=weather+olderfjord [3] https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=murmansk+weather+10+day+fo...

He could also fly to Murmansk and cut the drive in half. Personally I'd fly to Murmansk, drive a couple of hours to Kirkenes, and spend a few lovely days taking the boat down the coast to Bergen before grabbing a train to Oslo.

I don't think ocean travel is safe for him at this point. Many things can happen on a small boat in the Atlantic at night.

Many things can happen on a small boat in the Atlantic at night.

Sure, but nothing that can't also happen in a car on a small backcountry road at night. And anyway if he takes a passenger ferry he'll be constantly surrounded by hundreds of other people which is a hell of a lot more collateral damage to take into consideration if you're genuinely concerned about someone causing an 'accident'.

In Norway on my last few domestic flights or flights to Scandinavian countries I was not asked to present any ID. Ticket on a mobile screen was enough. But on some domestic flight in 2014 I was asked for ID.

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