Russia Grants Snowden Temporary Asylum After 39 Days in Moscow Airport

After spending 39 days confined to the transit zone of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport, Edward Snowden was granted temporary asylum in Russia for one year on August 1, 2013. Russian authorities had restricted Snowden to the airport terminal after observing that U.S. authorities had canceled his passport, leaving him in legal limbo as a stateless person unable to travel further to Ecuador or other countries considering his asylum requests.

Snowden’s Russian lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, announced that the 30-year-old whistleblower received a certificate granting him temporary asylum and departed the airport in a regular taxi cab, accompanied by Sarah Harrison of WikiLeaks who had traveled with him from Hong Kong. His destination within Russia was kept secret for security reasons. The Russian government stated that a condition of the asylum was that Snowden could not reveal any more information that would damage the United States, though the enforceability of such a condition remained unclear.

The decision sparked immediate criticism from the Obama administration and further strained U.S.-Russia relations. The White House expressed “extreme disappointment” with Russia’s decision, with Press Secretary Jay Carney stating it was a setback for bilateral relations. Some U.S. lawmakers called for economic sanctions or a boycott of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. President Obama even canceled a planned summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in September 2013.

The asylum grant effectively stranded Snowden in Russia, far from his preferred destinations of Ecuador or other Latin American countries that had indicated willingness to consider his asylum request. While Snowden stated he had not intended to remain in Russia permanently, the revocation of his U.S. passport and intense American diplomatic pressure on other countries left him with few alternatives. Russia’s decision to shelter Snowden would have lasting implications for U.S.-Russia relations and transform him from a temporary transit passenger into a long-term Russian resident.