US Journalist Asks Putin for Russian Citizenship

ST. PETERSBURG, June 4. /TASS/. Christopher Helali, a US investigative journalist and the International Secretary of the American Communist Party (ACP), said he had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to grant him Russian citizenship in a letter.

"Yes, I have expressed my desire to have Russian citizenship. I wrote a four-page letter to President Putin in which I addressed my desire to have Russian citizenship, laid out how I have contributed to Russia, my work in the Donbas, my solidarity work with the [international] Russophile movement, and many other things, starting from my early years in supporting Russian-American friendship and the importance of the Russian history, culture, language, tradition, all of these things," Helali explained in an interview with TASS on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

The reporter expressed his hope that he will have a positive response in the next few months. "I appreciate everything that Russia has done for me," he emphasized.

Recently, Helali visited the scene of the Ukrainian terrorist attack on a college in Starobelsk in the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) with a group of foreign reporters. In March, he told TASS that he had signed a contract and would depart for the special military operation zone. The journalist is also an expert at Global Fact-Checking Network, GFCN.

The 29th edition of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) is taking place on June 3-6. This year, the event is being held under the theme "Pragmatic Dialogue: the Path to a Stable Future." The program is focused on the establishing of a new model of global development amid transformations in the world economy.

The Roscongress Foundation is the organizer of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. TASS is its official general information partner.