3 From Ship Free on Bail in Russia Denis Sinyakov, a photographer working with Greenpeace, was granted bail on Monday in St. Petersburg. MOSCOW - A court in St. Petersburg on Monday granted bail to three of 30 crew members of a Greenpeace International ship seized during a protest against oil drilling in the Arctic in September. Some see this as a first sign of leniency in an investigation that could continue through the Olympic Games that Russia is hosting in Sochi. Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters The ship's medic, Yekaterina Zaspa, was one of the two Russian citizens granted bail on Monday. Ana Paula Alminhana Maciel, one of the 30 people arrested over a Greenpeace protest at the Prirazlomnaya oil rig, in a defendants' cage during a court session on Monday in St. Petersburg. The court ordered the release of the ship's Russian medic, Yekaterina Zaspa, a photographer who chronicled the protest for Greenpeace, Denis Sinyakov, and Andrei Allakhverdov, all of them Russians. But a different court extended the detention of another crew member, Colin Russell of Australia, for three more months while the investigation continues. The ruling means he could remain in prison until Feb. 24, a day after the Winter Games are scheduled to end. The dispute over the Greenpeace case has intensified international criticism ahead of a sporting event that has been portrayed as a restoration of Russia's prestige under President Vladimir V. Putin. Criminal cases against political protesters, including the punk band Pussy Riot, and the adoption of a law prohibiting "propaganda" of same-sex relationships, underscore what Mr. Putin's critics have denounced as an intolerant and abusive authoritarian rule. Even with the granting of bail in one case, Russia's prosecutors have shown no sign that they intend to drop the criminal charges against the crew. They have dismissed Greenpeace's vigorous campaign to draw international attention to the case and personal appeals from celebrities like Paul McCartney, who once met Mr. Putin during a concert in Red Square in 2003. The three Russians granted bail could be released within days after each pays a bail of two million rubles, or roughly $60,000, but the charges against them would remain in place. It was not clear why they were granted bail, though they were among four Russian citizens who were detained in the case and could have been considered the least likely to leave the country upon release. The 30 crew members included citizens of 18 nations, including the United States. Another crew member who appeared in court on Monday, Ana Paula Alminhana Maciel of Brazil, held up a hand-painted sign during her hearing that read, "Political Prisoner Political Solution," clearly expressing hope that quiet diplomatic negotiations underway could end the case. A decision in her case was postponed until Tuesday, as were several others. The hearings for the other crew members are expected to continue in St. Petersburg over the next several days. Greenpeace International's executive director, Kumi Naidoo, criticized the extension of the detention, reiterating that the crew members had committed no criminal offense by staging a peaceful act of protest. "This case is now a circus," he said in a statement released by the organization. Russia's border guards seized the ship and the crew on Sept. 19, the day after a high-seas protest against Russia's first offshore oil platform in the Pechora Sea. The ship was towed to the northern port of Murmansk and all 30 were initially charged with piracy - an offense that even Mr. Putin suggested was excessive. They were later charged with hooliganism, a charge that carries up to seven years in prison. They spent their initial weeks in detention in Murmansk but were moved last week to several prisons in St. Petersburg, the regional investigative headquarters. Mr. Russell, a veteran activist with Greenpeace, pleaded with the judge considering the extension of his detention. "I don't understand why I've been detained," he said, a transcript by Greenpeace said. I've done two months hard time for nothing.