Edward Snowden, NSA Whistleblower Enters Russia As 'Passport' Image Is Released

Edward Snowden Has Entered Russia
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Edward Snowden has been granted temporary asylum in Russia and left Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport on Thursday.

The NSA whistleblower’s attorney Anatoly Kucherena told Russia 24 that documents had been issued allowing the 30-year-old to live and work in Russia for up to a year while his application for permanent asylum is pending.

“I have just seen him off. He has left for a secure location,” Kucherena said.

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Russia Today tweeted grainy images of the documents issued to Snowden, which entitle him to stay in the country until July 31, 2014.

Snowden had applied for asylum in 21 countries since fleeing the United States for Hong Kong, after revealing details of an intelligence program to monitor internet activity.

He arrived in Moscow on 23 June.

Passport pictures of celebrities & public figures
Edward Snowden(01 of09)
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In this image taken form Russia24 TV channel, Russian lawyer Anatoly Kucherena shows Snowden's a temporary document Russia while speaking to the media after visiting National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden at Sheremetyevo airport outside Moscow, Russia, on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2013. National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden has received asylum in Russia for one year and left the transit zone of Moscow’ airport, his lawyer said Thursday. Kucherena said after meeting with the fugitive at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, where he was stuck since his arrival from Hong Kong on June 23, that he handed him the papers proving his status. Kucherena said that Snowden’s whereabouts will be kept secret for security reasons. (AP Photo/Russia24 via APTN) TV OUT (credit:AP)
Nelson Mandela(02 of09)
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A picture taken on June 12, 2013 shows the 1991 passport of Nelson Mandela. (credit:Getty)
Marilyn Monroe(03 of09)
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NEW YORK - MAY 17: Marilyn Monroe's 1954 United States Passport is displayed at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square on May 17, 2006 in New York City. Hunt Auctions inc. will auction off the personal Items of Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe on May 19 and 20, 2006. Rings and other pieces celebrating the career of DiMaggio will be auctioned off as well as portraits, telegrams, phone messages and personal handwritten letters by his former wife, Marilyn Monroe. (Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images) (credit:Getty)
Albert Einstein(04 of09)
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Photo of Albert Einstein's original passport presented during Albert Einstein's exhibition at the Bern museum, 12 July 2005. Albert Einstein is looming large over the Swiss capital, as the city where he hatched his groundbreaking theories marks their centenary with a major exhibition. AFP PHOTO JEAN-PIERRE CLATOT (Photo credit should read JEAN-PIERRE CLATOT/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty)
Gerard Depardieu(05 of09)
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A close up of French actor Gerard Depardieu, who has threatened to quit his homeland to avoid higher taxes, showing off his new Russian passport on January 6, 2013 at Mordovia airport in Saransk where he has been offered residence in this central Russia region known for Stalin-era Gulag labour camps. The former Oscar nominee travelled to snow-covered Mordovia a day after he met with strongman President Vladimir Putin at his sumptuous Black Sea villa in the resort town of Sochi for friendly banter over a meal. AFP PHOTO / CAROLINE LARSON (Photo credit should read CAROLINE LARSON/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty)
John F. Kennedy(06 of09)
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A passport belonging to former U.S. President John F. Kennedy is displayed at an auction preview at the Trump Tower November 16, 2005 in New York City. Part of the Robert White Collection, the items to be auctioned, which number into the thousands, cover a broad period of the late president's life. The auction will take place on December 13-17 at the 7th Regiment Armory in New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) (credit:Getty)
Katharine Hepburn(07 of09)
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NEW YORK - JUNE 3: A 1960 passport belonging to the late Katharine Hepburn is displayed for auction as part of the exhibition of property from the estate of actress Katharine Hepburn, at Sotheby's June 3, 2004 in New York City. The passport has an estimated value of $1,500 to $ 2,000 dollars The public will be able to view the items at Sotheby's prior to the auction, which take's place June 10-11. Sotheby's will auction a total of 691 of her belongings. Hepburn died in June 2003 at the age of 96. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) (credit:Getty )
Michael Hutchence(08 of09)
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NEW YORK, NY - JULY 25: Michael Hutchence's passport displayed at a press preview for the Gotta Have Rock and Roll online auction at the Gotta Have It! store on July 25, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Laura Cavanaugh/Getty Images) (credit:Getty)
Pope Francis (09 of09)
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Issued by Argentina's Interior Ministry the new passport of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Pope Francis, at the Argentine Consulate in Rome, Italy, Friday, Feb. 14, 2014. Argentina’s ambassador to the Holy See, Juan Pablo Cafiero said he and his deputy went to the Pope’s hotel in the Vatican gardens last Friday to take Francis’ photo and digital fingerprints because the Pope’s passport was due to expire and he wanted to renew it. (AP Photo/Argentina's Interior Ministry)