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!
My position is that if the US government is doing something wrong, as long as it comes out, it doesn't matter which power helps. Wrong is wrong. If you don't violate the Constitution and run an immoral foreign policy, you don't have to worry about Russia or China finding it out (and to be honest, I don't see Russia as a natural adversary of the USA, but China is. Russia is only in that position because the US leadership stupidly forced them into it).