Everyone wants to know what U.S. intelligence whistleblower Edward Snowden is doing.
Is he still in Russia? Is he hiding in an airport? Did he manage to escape to Ecuador, where he’s reportedly seeking asylum?
The 30-year-old who revealed the United States’ secret phone and Internet surveillance program remains in Russia, to the best of anyone’s knowledge.
Read more: Snowden’s father says his son would return to US to face charges
Snowden arrived on a plane from Hong Kong, where he had been in hiding, on June 23 and took refuge in a transit area of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He’s more or less in a no-man’s land, having not officially entered or left the country.
He was due to fly to Havana on Wednesday, but there was no sign of him on a plane loaded with international journalists hoping to score a shot of the former National Security Agency staffer.
Despite apparently having nowhere to go – his U.S. passport has since been revoked and Russia Today reported he had no ticket booked out of the country – there’s been no sign of Snowden.
So, what could he possibly do if he’s still holed up in Terminal E – the only part of the transit zone equipped with a hotel?
Where’s he sleeping?
Reportedly he’s staying in a capsule hotel — the V-Express Transit Hotel – which lies between the security and passport check areas.
It’s meant to lodge those with a lengthy layover who don’t have a Russian entry visa. Anyone who’s tried to get a last minute visa to Russia knows what a tedious effort that can be.
The accommodations don’t appear too shabby, under the circumstances.
“Designers of a Hotel complex took care that everything in the room was maximum comfortable and caused only positive emotions,” a description on the airport’s website reads.
There’s Internet in the 66 rooms, measuring between 7.5 and 22 square metres. Each has a bed, a bathroom and “a modern security system.” That might be of use to Snowden as reporters scope out the place looking for him.
Guests at the capsule hotel pay an hourly rate, past the initial four-hour rate, to a maximum of 10,000 rubles (CAD $320) a night.
What is there to do?
Snowden can buy all of the duty-free cologne, chocolate, cigarettes and booze he wants, right? Maybe not. You usually need a ticket out of the country – and probably a valid passport — before stocking up on Toblerones and Hennessey.
But the airport has a couple of pharmacies that stock hygiene products, dietary supplements, food and medicine — which is good if he needs a prescription for his epilepsy.
Snowden told the Guardian he has epilepsy. He actually used his condition as an excuse to take leave from intelligence consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton on May 20 when he flew to Hong Kong to meet with the Guardian reporters that broke the surveillance story.
There terminal also has a sunglasses shop, a sporting goods store, electronics store and a bookstore selling Christian literature.
Wining and dining
There is an array of airport fare in Terminal E, ranging from Burger King to Italian food to Russian cuisine. If Snowden can work his way over to nearby Terminal F he can hit up a T.G.I. Friday’s or grab a pint of Guinness at the Irish pub.
According to an article from The Associated Press this week, there hasn’t been any sign of Snowden anywhere in the transit zone.
But there’s no shortage of journalists.
“We only saw lots of journalists, that’s for sure,” said Maxim, a waiter at the Shokoladnitsa diner not far from Air Express, told The Associated Press.
The departure and transit area has dozens of small rooms, some labelled “authorized personnel only,” where someone could potentially seek refuge with support from airport staff or security personnel. And security forces or police patrolling the area can easily whisk a person out of this area through back doors or corridors.
That could be how he’s dodging the public glare. But, that guess is as good as anyone’s.
Maybe he’s just going to wind up like this guy.
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