A plane left for Havana from Moscow on Monday as scheduled minus one passenger, Edward Snowden, and now the whereabouts of Snowden are unknown, according to the Washington Post.
The man who leaked National Security Agency documents exposing the vast cell phone surveillance program used by the agency fled from Hong Kong on Sunday after he was officially charged with espionage. It was thought that Snowden was attempting to reach Ecuador, where has applied for asylum, by flying through Cuba and Venezuela, according to the Washington Post.
Security around Aeroflot flight SU150 to Havana was very heavy as guards tried to prevent photographers from taking pictures of the plane or the people boarding it. The Associated Press had reporters on the flight who have reported that Snowden was not on it.
As the plane pulled away from the gate Nikolay Sokolov, an Aeroflot employee, confirmed that Snowden was not on his way to Cuba.
"He is not there," Sokolov told The New York Times. "I was waiting myself."
Snowden's absence on the flight could be because he has been taken into custody by the Russian government as they consider whether or not to return him to the United States as has been demanded by the Obama administration. Although it could be possible that Snowden was detained by the Russians for their own purposes, according to The New York Times.
While on a visit in India Secretary of State John Kerry said that Russia should return Snowden to the U.S. and "live by the standards of the law," according to The New York Times.
It is not clear what will happen to Snowden if he does eventually make it to Ecuador. The foreign minister from the South American country, Ricardo Patino, told Reuters that he had been in "respectful" contact with Russia about Snowden.
"We will consider the position of the U.S. government and we will take a decision in due course in line with the (Ecuadorean) constitution, the laws, international politics and sovereignty," Patino said at a news conference.
Some Russians believed that it was best for Snowden to move on out of their country as quickly as possible. Ina Sosna, the manager of a Moscow cleaning company, spoke with Reuters about the situation.
"We are a pretty stubborn country and so is the United States," Sosna said. "Both are mighty countries, so I would say this has a good potential to turn into a big fuss in bilateral relations. I guess it would be best if they just let him move on from Russia to avoid any more controversy over him being here."
WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, announced from the Ecuadorean that Snowden was given refugee papers that enabled him to leave Hong Kong despite the U.S. annulling his passport.
"In relation to Hong Kong, Mr. Snowden was supplied with a refugee document of passage by the Ecuadorean government," Assange told reporters.
