MOSCOW, October 27. /TASS/. Russia has completed the amnesty announced to mark this year's 70th anniversary of Soviet victory against Nazi Germany. A total of 231,500 people have been granted exemption from punishment.

Of these, 42,300 have been released from prisons and penal colonies, and 189,200 freed from non-custodial penalties, deputy director of the Federal Penitentiary Service Valery Boyarinev told a news conference.

Freedom in Russia's 25th amnesty applies to minors, the elderly, the physically challenged and war veterans. Among the declarations to date, the first two amnesties were declared in 1994, granted to participants in the 1991 hardline coup against the government of the time, mass riots in Moscow in 1993 — a standoff between demonstrators and police - and internal political conflict in 1993.

Six other declarations applied to participants in North Caucasus armed conflicts and five were linked to Victory Day annual celebrations. Amnesties were declared three times for certain categories of citizens for crimes that did not represent considerable social danger.

The amnesty in May 2000 to mark the 55th anniversary of victory over Nazism was the largest in Russia, affecting 877,000 people.