Lindsay Mills, Edward Snowden’s Girlfriend, Has Reunited With Leaker In Russia

Girlfriend Lindsay Mills has visited U.S. secrets leaker Edward Snowden in Russia but cannot stay because of visa issues, Snowden’s lawyer said. Snowden faces espionage charges in the United States for revealing the scope of U.S. surveillance programs last year.

Mills joined Snowden in Moscow in July, it emerged Friday, negating reports he abandoned her after outing the extent of the National Security Agency’s spying activities. Attorney Anatoly Kucherena told Agence France-Presse Mills does not live in Russia permanently due to visa issues but spends time with Snowden as frequently as possible.

A documentary on Snowden screened in New York Friday, “Citizenfour,” revealed the two have been together infrequently during his time in Hong Kong and after planning his escape to Russia. The couple have been together since at least 2009, the Guardian reported, and previously lived together in Hawaii and Japan.

Mills had moved back in with her parents from Hawaii. The documentary depicts Snowden sympathetically during his time in a Hong Kong hotel in the summer of 2013 before and after releasing a number of secret details about NSA surveillance.

Mills, who has referred to herself as a “world-traveling, pole-dancing super hero” on her blog, has never before spoken publicly about Snowden. AFP reported Mills lives with Snowden only part-time due to constraints on her visa.