Snowden’s Location a Mystery After He Doesn’t Board Plane From Russia to Cuba

Where in the world is Edward J. Snowden? The fugitive whistleblower/document leaker was all set to board a flight from Russia to Cuba today, en route to Ecuador, where he’s seeking asylum. But the New York Times reports that it’s taken off without him (and without a bunch of journalists who tried to sneak on without the requisite visas):

Mr. Snowden was said to have reserved a ticket on the flight, Aeroflot 150, in coach seat 17A. But just before the plane pulled away, Nikolay Solkolov, an Aeroflot employee at the gate, said that Mr. Snowden was not on board.

The only folks who seem to know where the man is, in a match made in document-leaking heaven, are the Wikileakers:

Mr. Snowden was aided in his escape by WikiLeaks, the antisecrecy organization, whose founder said he helped arrange special refugee travel documents issued by Ecuador.

Secretary of State John Kerry, meanwhile, has been trying to convince Russia to block Snowden from leaving the country, pointing out that in the past two years, the U.S. has extradited seven Russians, at the behest of their government. “Reciprocity is pretty important,” he told the Washington Post. But if Russia, like China, is using Snowdengate to tweak America and win a little PR battle, that would seem unlikely.