Russia has granted bail to all but one of the 30 Greenpeace crew members detained over an Arctic oil protest, but has dismissed a United Nations tribunal ruling that they should be allowed to leave the country.
New Zealanders Jonathan Beauchamp and David Haussmann are among those released by courts in St Petersburg on payment of 2 million roubles ($NZ73,500) bail by Greenpeace.
Australian activist Colin Russell had his detention extended until 24 February although the reason for refusing his bail request is unclear.
As the courts were granting bail a Hamburg-based UN maritime tribunal ordered Russia to release the Dutch-flagged vessel Arctic Sunrise and all the crew.
The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea also ordered Moscow to allow the detainees to leave the country in return for a €3.6 million bond, AFP reports.
Russia says it does not fall under the tribunal's jurisdiction though its foreign ministry said it would study the decision.
Russia detained the Arctic Sunrise and its crew on 18 September after activists attempted to scale a drilling platform owned by Russian state oil company Gazprom in the Barents Sea.
The campaigners, from 18 countries, were first charged with piracy which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years.
The charges were later changed to hooliganism, and the crew members still face jail terms of up to seven years if found guilty.
Russia's decision to jail the entire Arctic Sunrise crew and charge them with hooliganism prompted calls for their release from leaders including British Prime Minister and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and celebrities such as Madonna and Paul McCartney.