The Greenpeace activists known as the Arctic 30, including Tasmanian Colin Russell, are set to avoid trial after the approval of an amnesty bill in the Russian parliament (Here).
The bill will also free the two jailed members of punk band Pussy Riot.
The Arctic 30, which includes 28 activists and two journalists from 17 countries, had been charged with hooliganism over their protest in September against plans by energy giant Gazprom to drill for oil in the Arctic.
The charge carries a jail term of up to seven years.
Greenpeace says a last-minute amendment to the bill means Russia will almost certainly end legal proceedings against the group.
President Vladimir Putin proposed the amnesty bill to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Russia ratifying its current post-Soviet constitution.
Mr Russell watched the Russian Duma’s vote on a television at a St Petersburg hotel, where he has been staying since his release from prison in November on a $60,000 bail.
It was welcome news for the 59-year-old radio engineer, who was kept in custody the longest of all the Greenpeace activists.
“I’m really relieved now. As of the 19th [of December] it’s three months since we were first detained,” he told the ABC.
“There’s been no light at the end of the tunnel. To have this, it’s more of a relief.
“I still feel as though I haven’t done anything wrong and we were illegally taken in the high seas, international waters.
“So all that still stands as far as I’m concerned.”
