He only was in Hong Kong for a few days and got stranded in Russia because of the actions of the US State Department. What other choice did he have but to apply for Russian asylum? Do you imagine it’s terribly hard to get political asylum in Russia? There is a standard, everyday process for it, just like other immigration in Russia it is very straightforward. It wouldn’t have required any special consideration (except for the sensitivity of his case).
Let’s consider Lt. Col. Terrence Lakin he felt that through his personal convictions he could not take orders from what he considered an unlawful president - Prez Zero. He stood his ground and suffered the consequences for it. Rightly or wrongly about his interpretation of Zero’s constitutionally he accepted the consequences.
Snowden in his opinion felt what he saw as a BAH employee was unlawful. So, his solution was to give documents to foreign powers - hostile powers. He claimed he did it as a form of protest. He then fled the country. Why didn’t he send them to the media like say NYT? Maybe even some other far left media outfit. There are plenty to choose from. They would have been happy to have them. Why didn’t he after releasing them to the media stand his ground, behave like Col. Lakin?
The answer is obvious!