National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden has received asylum for a year in Russia and has left Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport, his lawyer said on Thursday.
Anatoly Kucherena, a lawyer who has been representing Mr. Snowden in Moscow, said the U.S. fugitive received so-called "temporary asylum" for a period of one year that allows him to remain and live on Russian territory. Temporary asylum is usually issued in Russia for renewable one-year periods.

The 30-year-old former national security contractor, who is wanted by U.S. authorities for leaking documents related to the NSA's foreign and domestic surveillance operations, left Sheremetyevo Airport after spending more than a month stuck in the transit zone, Mr. Kucherena said in a brief interview with Newsmen on Thursday.

"I already escorted him out of the airport into a taxi," the lawyer said. He declined to say where his client went.