Russia today concluded bail hearings and ruled to release all but one of the 30 Greenpeace crew members who have spent more than two months in prison over a protest against Arctic drilling.
Courts in Saint Petersburg have now granted bail to 29 of the 30 crew members, 26 of whom have been released, while one Australian activist has been detained until February.
The move came just before an international maritime court ordered Russia to release the ship and its crew on payment of USD 4.9 million bond.
The German-based International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, based in the northern port city of Hamburg, also ordered Moscow to allow the detainees to leave the country on receipt of the bond.
The veteran US captain of the Greenpeace ship, Peter Willcox, was among the 15 to be freed today.
Also released were five British crew members: video journalist Kieron Bryan, communications officer Alexandra Harris, activist Anthony Perrett, second engineer Iain Rogers and logistics coordinator Frank Hewetson.
Activist Marco Weber from Switzerland, who was one of those to scale a Russian oil platform in the protest, was freed today as well.
President Vladimir Putin said Russia had no desire to exacerbate a situation that has already seen Moscow draw sharp rebukes from several European heads of state.
"I want to assure you the political leadership of Russia has no desire especially to interfere in this process," Putin told reporters.
"We are not able to interfere in the legal side of this case. We do not have the desire to aggravate anything or to specially detain anyone," he said.
Speaking alongside Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Putin responded with a joke to a question about whether Turkish Greenpeace activist Gizem Akhan, who was freed could go home with the premier.
"He came with his wife. Who can he take home?" Putin interjected.
Earlier this week, Russia freed 11 crew members on bail, including the other activist who climbed the platform, Sini Saarela of Finland.
