Has Snowden Applied for Asylum in Russia?

Although journalists have been staking out Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport all week, no one has caught a glimpse of Edward Snowden, which means reporting on exactly what he's been doing there has been a little ... messy. Case in point: Multiple media agencies, including the New York Times and the Guardian are reporting today that Snowden has applied for political asylum in Russia, based on information from an official at the airport's consulate, who says that a WikiLeaks activist traveling with him delivered his request to the consulate last night.

The Los Angeles Times, meanwhile, says an anonymous Russian official claims Snowden applied for asylum to 15 different countries, but wouldn't say which countries they were. But the Russian Federal Migration Service denies that Snowden has applied for asylum, according to RT, which notes that a consular employee cannot make comments on behalf of the ministry. A presidential spokesperson also denied it had received the asylum request, RIA Novosti reports. So for now, the truth remains as elusive as Snowden himself. (Though he did just publish a statement saying Obama had left him "stateless.")