Russia has formally dropped charges against the Arctic 30 after granting them amnesty last week. The group of 28 activists and two journalists were jailed for two months for trying to stop Russian oil drilling in the Arctic. With the charges removed, they can now leave Russia after securing exit visas. Peter Willcox, the captain of the Arctic Sunrise, said his group refuses to apologize for opposing Arctic drilling.

Peter Willcox: “It has established that we have accepted amnesty. And that’s what we did. We accepted the amnesty. We don’t admit any guilt or feel we have anything to be blamed for. Greenpeace still has an issue with Gazprom drilling for oil in the Arctic. Scientists tell us that we have completely enough oil to push climate change past the place where we can live on the planet. We don’t need to drill for new oil, and we certainly don’t need to drill for it in the Arctic. So, we will be objecting to any oil drilling, and we will be objecting especially to drilling in the Arctic. We think it’s stupid.”

The Arctic 30 were among an estimated 22,000 people granted amnesty last week, including two members of the Russian punk group Pussy Riot. The move is widely believed to mark an attempt at bolstering Russia’s image ahead of its hosting of the Winter Olympics in just over a month.