MOSCOW: A sensationalist Russian news website published on Monday a photograph that it claims is the first to show US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden since he emerged from a Moscow airport in August.

In the blurry image published by Life News, a casually dressed man sporting a goatee with sunglasses perched on his head is pictured pushing a supermarket trolley full of groceries across a road.

A car with partly legible Russian plates and a crossing sign identify the scene as in Russia.“The photograph was taken in Moscow,” said Life News, which is known for its close ties to the Kremlin and security services.

There has been no reported sighting of Snowden since he walked out of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport on Aug 1 after obtaining temporary asylum in Russia despite protests from Washington.

The 30-year-old former CIA contractor is wanted by the United States after revealing details of massive surveillance by the National Security Agency to the media.

Snowden’s Russian lawyer Anatoly Kucherena has said he is living in a secret location in fear of being tracked down by US law enforcers.

Life News published video extracts from an interview with Kremlin-friendly Kucherena, who refused to confirm that Snowden is living in Moscow.

“Let’s take as a starting point that on the photograph that came into your possession you can’t see the region or anything, only numbers (on a car number plate),” he said.

The photograph, if genuine, also does not show the bodyguards who Kucherena says accompany Snowden.

It was not clear when the photograph was taken, however it is likely to be several weeks old as it is now autumn in Russia and the picture shows trees covered with green leaves.

Life News, which is the online wing of popular tabloid Tvoi Den, wrote on a Russian social networking page that it paid about $3,000 for the photograph submitted via its website.—AFP