Moscow has granted a three-year residency permit to Edward Snowden, the former US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor who divulged the security secrets of his native America and fled to Russia.  His previous, yearlong residency permit ran out on 31 July.

Snowden’s Russian lawyer says the permit allows him to live in Russia through 2017, and stops short of granting him asylum.  The new status allows him to leave Russia for up to three months, although Snowden has avoided that until now, in fear of being arrested by the US.  He has expressed interest in pursuing asylum in South America – it’s just that getting there seems to be impossible.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said Snowden was a fugitive from justice who should “man up” and return home to face the consequences of leaking gobs of classified material exposing the US intelligence communities illegal excesses to reporters Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras, and Barton Gellman.  While the government wants to arrest him, Snowden and his supporters say he’s a whistle-blower.

Snowden is believed to have a job in the IT field in Moscow.  He’s not on the government dole, and is not getting protection from Russian security forces, according to his lawyer.

“The government cannot provide him with housing, despite the fact that he was granted a residence permit,” said attorney Anatoly G. Kucherena.  “He leads a rather modest lifestyle.”