British Greenpeace activists leave Russia Greenpeace activists Anthony Perrett, Phil Ball, Iain Rogers, Alexandra Harris, and freelance video journalist Kieron Bryan, took off from St Petersburg's Pulkovo airport just after 11:30 local time. Along with Alexandre Paul, a Canadian crew member, they flew to Paris, where the five Britons took the Eurostar train service to London. Captain of the 'Arctic Sunrise' ship Peter Henry Willcox of the USA shows journalists his passport (EPA) The departure brings to a close the 100-day saga that began when Greenpeace's Arctic Sunrise icebreaker approached the Prirazlomnaya oil platform in the Pechora Sea to protest Arctic oil development. In a repetition of an action carried out by the group the previous year, climbers attempted to attach themselves to the platform, which is operated by Gazprom Neft, a subsidiary of state-owned Russian gas monopoly Gazprom. But their motor launches were quickly intercepted by Russian coast guards, leading to a confrontation that ended when helicopter-borne special forces stormed the vessel. The 28 Greenpeace crew and activists, along with two freelance journalists on board, were charged with piracy and placed in pre-trial detention in Russia's Arctic port of Murmansk. They were later moved to St. Petersburg, where the charges were reduced to hooliganism and they were eventually released on bail. All charges were dropped earlier this week as part of an amnesty marking the 20th anniversary of the Russian constitution. Although they have been released, the Russian authorities have made it clear that they still view the group as violent saboteurs, with Vladimir Putin saying in a press conference last week that they were most likely acting on behalf of a shadowy third party determined to hurt Russia's oil-based economy.