The Astrakhan Regional Court of Russia has recognized the Ukrainian citizenship of Khaiser Jemilev, the son of Ukrainian MP Mustafa Jemilev, Ukrainian President's Envoy for the Crimean Tatar people Mustafa Jemilev, lawyer Nikolai Polozov has said.

"The decision on the establishment of an administrative surveillance over Khaiser Jemilev has been canceled. The key argument is recognizing him a citizen of Ukraine by the Russian Federation authorities without any reservations. The phrase in its appeal decision: "after the sentence completion Jemilev has no legal grounds to stay on the territory of the Russian Federation and is to depart to the territory of a foreign state," inspires reserved optimism," Polozov said on his Facebook page.

At the same time he published a scanned copy of the court’s decision which concludes this, and said he intends to meet with Jemilev in the colony.

"The last day before the release of the hostage I intend to meet with Jemilev," Polozov said.

As reported earlier, Polozov said that Jemilev would be released on Friday, November 25.

"The release of the fourth hostage out of dozens illegally detained in the Russian Federation of Ukrainian citizens – Khaiser Jemilev – is expected on Friday," he said on Monday.

Lawyer Mark Feygin also confirmed this information, "as his [Jemilev’s] term of imprisonment is coming to an end", but he did not rule out the possibility of the obstacles in the process of liberation of the politician’s son.

In June 2015, Russia's Krasnodar Territorial Court, acting on the basis of a jury verdict, sentenced Khaiser Jemilev, the son of Ukrainian MP Mustafa Jemilev, to five years in a standard-security penitentiary for manslaughter, theft and possession of weapons. His prison term was reduced by one and a half years in September as the statute of limitations for the manslaughter count had expired. Khaiser Jemilev was sent to Penal Colony No. 10 in Astrakhan on November 11, 2015.

In February 2016, the Astrakhan Sovetsky District Court considered Jemilev's parole request and declined it. The regional court upheld this decision in April.

According to the case files, Jemilev stole a rifle and scope along with ammunition from his father's residence in Bakhchisarai in May 2013. He took the weapons to his house, which was located nearby, and stored them in his bedroom.

According to investigators, on May 27, 2013 Jemilev took the rifle and started walking around the house, aiming at birds and other objects through the windows. He shot Fevzi Edemov, a friend of the Jemilev family, who was working in the garden, in the head.