History of serfdom process, referred to as "second serfdom" or "export-led serfdom", persisted until the mid-19th century and became very repressive and substantially limited serfs' rights. Before the 1861 abolition of serfdom in Russia, a landowner's estate was often measured by the number of "souls" he owned, a practice made famous by Gogol's 1842 novel "Dead Souls". Many of these countries abolished serfdom during the Napoleonic invasions of the early 19th century. Serfdom remained in force in most of Russia until the Emancipation reform of 1861, enacted on February 19, 1861, though in the Russian-controlled Baltic provinces it had been abolished at the
Edward Snowden asylum in Russia The comment drew harsh criticism by the Russian Foreign Ministry, which noted that Snowden had been granted an extension of his stay until 2020, and said what Morell proposed would be a betrayal. A senior U.S. official said in February 2017 that Russia was considering extraditing Snowden in order to "curry favor" with President Donald Trump. Snowden cited the comment as evidence that he was not a Russian spy. Edward Snowden asylum in Russia Edward Snowden asylum in Russia is part of the aftermath from the global surveillance disclosures made by Edward Snowden. On June 23, 2013, Snowden flew from