Image: Philippe Lopez / AFP / Lehtikuva

Snowden has been on the run since he left his job as a contractor for the National Security Agency in Hawaii and leaked highly classified information to the Guardian and other media last month. The United States subsequently charged him with espionage and asked other countries not to assist him.

The Wikileaks organisation posted a statement about Snowden’s asylum applications on its website in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The statement said that a Wikileaks representative presented the applications to a Russian official at Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow on Sunday evening.

Wikileaks said the applications were made to Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Switzerland and Venezuela. He has already asked for asylum in Iceland and Ecuador.

The Foreign Ministry confirmed the arrival of a fax from Snowden early on Monday morning, but said it was not an official application for asylum because it was not submitted in Finland.

Wikileaks is assisting Snowden in his search for a safe haven. He first went to Hong Kong, before leaving that territory for Moscow, apparently en route to another destination. He has been in limbo since last week, however, as the United States revoked his passport and he has been unable to continue his journey.

The Finnish Interior Ministry meanwhile has said that Finland does not accept asylum applications from abroad, and therefore Snowden’s request for asylum in Finland is not likely to be successful.

According to Sanna Sutter of the ministry, the asylum process can only start if the applicant is present in Finland.