Russia Moving Greenpeace Detainees

Greenpeace activist Ruslan Yakushev from Ukraine, pictured here last month in a court in the northern Russian city of Murmansk.

Thirty people arrested in Russia over a protest against Arctic oil drilling were moved from the northern city of Murmansk on November 11 on their way to St. Petersburg.

Russia's Investigative Committee said in a statement that "the decision has been made to transfer all 30 of the accused to detention centers in St. Petersburg."

A Greenpeace spokeswoman confirmed the detainees left the pre-detention center in Murmansk before dawn and were put on a train to St. Petersburg.

The environmental watchdog reiterated the innocence of the 30 and said their incarceration was unlawful.

The 28 Greenpeace activists and two journalists were seized after a September 18 protest against oil drilling in the Arctic staged near a Gazprom oil rig.

Initial charges of piracy were later changed to hooliganism.

With reporting by Interfax