Dramatic footage showing Kieron Bryan’s arrest by Russian special forces has been released

This is the dramatic moment when masked Russian special forces fast-roped from a helicopter onto the deck of the Greenpeace vessel Arctic Sunrise.

The footage shows the armed troops manhandling the protestors before taking them into custody.

The troops abseiled onto the deck from a Russian military helicopter, thought to be an Mi-26.

The helicopter hovered above the vessel when at least two men landed on the deck.

The video shows the troops were armed with supressed sub-machine guns thought to be the AS Val commonly used by Spetsnaz special forces.

British journalist Kieron Bryan filmed the raid along with at least one other colleague.

Bryan, along with 29 others was arrested and the ship was taken under tow to Murmansk on 19 September.

The detainees have now spent more than 50 days in custody.

The video shows clearly that the Greenpeace activists did not resist the raid.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister David Cameron told BBC Radio Devon: "Their charges have been dropped from piracy to hooliganism, but I still think that is excessive. They are not hooligans, they are protesters.

"I totally understand that countries have to have some quite tough rules to stop people invading oil platforms, but I have appealed to Vladimir Putin to try to de-escalate this and make sure that these people can go home."

Also the London Assembly passed a motion calling for Bryan’s immediate release.

Assembly member Valerie Shawcross said: “The Russian authorities must by now realise that their overreaction to a peaceful Greenpeace protest in international waters has served only to reinforce suspicions that Russia pays lip service to democratic rights”

”The detention of Kieron Bryan is particularly grievous as he was not engaged in the protest but on board the Artic Sunrise to record and report on them. His arrest is a further threat to journalistic freedoms throughout Russia, he should be released immediately.

”If journalists are not given the space to do their job, how will we ever know what the powerful and powerful corporations are doing.”

She was supported by fellow assembly member Jenny Jones: “Legitimate protest and the rights of journalists to report are central to a free society. Russia must live up to its international obligations to respect justice and due process. To protect our own freedoms we must stand up when others are threatened, Kieron Bryan’s detention threatens us all.”