Snowden granted asylum in Russia after month in airport

National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden left the transit zone of a Moscow airport yesterday and officially entered Russia after authorities granted him asylum for a year, a move that suggests the Kremlin isn’t shying away from further conflict with the US.

Snowden’s whereabouts will be kept a secret for security reasons, his lawyer Anatoly Kucherena said, making it even harder to keep track of the former NSA systems analyst, who has been largely hiding out at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport since his arrival from Hong Kong on Jun 23.