The Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov has been freed from house arrest, 20 months into a detention widely criticised as unreasonably severe.

Yet the abrupt change of direction from Russian authorities – announced on Monday morning in a hearing at Moscow’s Meshchansky courtroom – offers few clues on his eventual sentencing.

Mr Serebrennikov, 49, still stands accused, along with three others, of defrauding the Russian state to the tune of 133m rubles (£1.5m). He has denied the charges, describing them as “absurd”, but few expect grace from a system that returns less than 0.1 per cent non-guilty verdicts.

The court order, which changed detention conditions to a no-travel order, also released Mr Serebrennikov’s co-defendants Sofia Apfelbaum and Yury Itin from house arrest.

Immediately after the decision, the director said he would soon return to working at the Gogol Centre, the Moscow theatre that he rebuilt into an experimental hub since taking over in 2012.

Despite the limitations placed on him during detention – he was banned from using a phone or the internet – Mr Serebrennikov has remained remarkably productive, putting on new shows to critical acclaim in Russia and Europe.

In pictures: US banker jailed by Russian court for fraud Show all 14 1 /14 In pictures: US banker jailed by Russian court for fraud In pictures: US banker jailed by Russian court for fraud 2019-02-15T185050Z-1041913715-RC11E657B970-RTRMADP-3-RUSSIA-BUSINESS-DETENTION.JPG Founder of the Baring Vostok private equity group Michael Calvey, who was detained on suspicion of fraud, reacts inside a defendants' cage as he attends a court hearing in Moscow, Russia February 15, 2019. REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva In pictures: US banker jailed by Russian court for fraud 07372543.jpg US investor Michael Calvey attends a hearing on investigators' motion on his arrest in connection with Baring Vostok criminal case at the Basmanny district court in Moscow, Russia, 15 February 2019. US investor Michael Calvey, senior partner at the Baring Vostok private equity funds, was detained in Moscow on fraud charges along with some other partners of the company. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV In pictures: US banker jailed by Russian court for fraud 1125031857.jpg MOSCOW, RUSSIA - FEBRUARY 15, 2019: Alexei Kordichev, chairman of the Board of Directors at PNB Banka (previously Norvik Banka), former chairman of the Board at Vostochny Bank (Orient Express Bank), suspected of large-scale fraud, ahead of a hearing at Moscow's Basmanny District Court. The court considers arresting Kordichev in connection with the criminal case against Michael Calvey, founder of the Baring Vostok Investment Fund. Sergei Bobylev\\TASS via Getty Images In pictures: US banker jailed by Russian court for fraud 1125022312.jpg Baring Vostok Investment Manager Maxim Vladimirov suspected of complicity in a large-scale fraud attends a hearing at Moscow's Basmanny District Court to consider his arrest in connection with the criminal case against Michael Calvey, founder of the Baring Vostok Investment Fund. Sergei Bobylev\\TASS via Getty Images In pictures: US banker jailed by Russian court for fraud 1125022291.jpg MOSCOW, RUSSIA - FEBRUARY 15, 2019: Baring Vostok Partner Vagan Abgaryan suspected of complicity in a large-scale fraud attends a hearing at Moscow's Basmanny District Court to consider his arrest in connection with the criminal case against Michael Calvey, founder of the Baring Vostok Investment Fund. Sergei Bobylev\\TASS via Getty Images In pictures: US banker jailed by Russian court for fraud 07372494.jpg US investor Michael Calvey (back C) is escorted to attend hearing on investigators' motion on his arrest in connection with Baring Vostok criminal case at the Basmanny district court in Moscow, Russia, 15 February 2019. US investor Michael Calvey, senior partner at the Baring Vostok private equity funds, was detained in Moscow on fraud charges along with some other partners of the company. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV In pictures: US banker jailed by Russian court for fraud urn-publicid-ap.org-93277d8c217f4568b96b8b1904b7e396.jpg Founder of the Baring Vostok investment fund Michael Calvey sits in a cage in the court room in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Feb. 15, 2019. A veteran U.S. investment fund manager has been detained in Moscow and faces fraud charges. A Moscow court said on Friday that Michael Calvey, founder and senior partner at Baring Vostok equity firm, was detained alongside two other fund managers. AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko In pictures: US banker jailed by Russian court for fraud 07372493.jpg The Pervoye Kollektorskoye Bureau (First Collection Bureau) CEO Maxim Vladimirov is escorted to attend hearing on investigators' motion on his arrest in connection with Baring Vostok criminal case at the Basmanny district court in Moscow, Russia, 15 February 2019. U.S. investor Michael Calvey, senior partner at the Baring Vostok private equity funds, was detained in Moscow on fraud charges along with some other partners of the company, including business partner Maxim Vladimirov. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV In pictures: US banker jailed by Russian court for fraud 1125031852.jpg Alexei Kordichev (C), chairman of the Board of Directors at PNB Banka (previously Norvik Banka), former chairman of the Board at Vostochny Bank (Orient Express Bank), suspected of large-scale fraud, ahead of a hearing at Moscow's Basmanny District Court. The court considers arresting Kordichev in connection with the criminal case against Michael Calvey, founder of the Baring Vostok Investment Fund. Sergei Bobylev/TASS In pictures: US banker jailed by Russian court for fraud 1125031860.jpg MOSCOW, RUSSIA - FEBRUARY 15, 2019: Michael Calvey, founder of the Baring Vostok Investment Fund, suspected of large-scale fraud, during a hearing at Moscow's Basmanny District Court. Sergei Bobylev\\TASS via Getty Images In pictures: US banker jailed by Russian court for fraud 1125032009.jpg Michael Calvey, founder of the Baring Vostok Investment Fund, suspected of large-scale fraud, during a hearing at Moscow's Basmanny District Court. Sergei Bobylev\\TASS via Getty Images In pictures: US banker jailed by Russian court for fraud 2019-02-15T152441Z-650771727-RC114BA8B5A0-RTRMADP-3-RUSSIA-BUSINESS-DETENTION.JPG Founder of the Baring Vostok private equity group Michael Calvey, who was detained on suspicion of fraud, stands inside a defendants' cage as he attends a court hearing in Moscow, Russia February 15, 2019. REUTERS/Tatyana Makeyeva In pictures: US banker jailed by Russian court for fraud AFP-1DH711.jpg US investor Michael Calvey, the head of investment company Baring Vostok, detained on fraud charges, attends a court hearing in Moscow's Basmanny Court on February 15, 2019. - Russia has detained the US head of a major investment firm on suspicion of fraud along with several other people from the fund and other businesses, a court spokesperson told Russian news agencies. VASILY MAXIMOV/AFP/Getty Images In pictures: US banker jailed by Russian court for fraud 1125062626.jpg US investor, founder and senior partner at Baring Vostok, Michael Calvey (back), who is suspected of involvement in swindling 2.5b roubles from Vostochny Bank, attends a hearing at Moscow's Basmanny District Court into an application for a warrant for his detention; 5 Baring Vostok workers, including Calvey, and one Norvik Banka worker, have been arrested in connection with the ongoing probe into the fraud; Baring Vostok holds a controlling stake in Vostochny Bank. Sergei Bobylev\\TASS via Getty Images

“Now is the time for celebration,” he told journalists outside the courtroom. “Immediately, soon, I’ll be back. It’s not easy psychologically, but I have a lot of things to do. We have shows, rehearsals to get on with.”

Mr Serebrennikov’s dramatic arrest in August 2017 was the first time a director of such prominence had been arrested since Vsevolod Meyerhold was taken by Stalin’s secret police in 1939.

State prosecutors claimed Mr Serebrennikov had headed up a “crime syndicate” that “embezzled” a government grant awarded to develop experimental theatre.

Initially, they said he had taken money for a play that never saw the light of day.

After it was pointed out that the play was not only performed, but received theatrical awards, charges were changed to other supposed financial irregularities.

Supporters say the charges against the director are politically motivated. Mr Serebrennikov regularly touches on taboo subjects for Russia – from homosexuality to political protest.

His ongoing detention has become a cause celebre, with hundreds of artists and cultural figures signing letters in support. But Mr Serebrennikov has also been defended by liberal elements within the system itself.

President Vladimir Putin’s own press secretary Dmitry Peskov attended the premiere of Mr Serebrennikov’s controversial Nureyev at the Bolshoi Theatre in December 2017, for example, and was even seen applauding. A few rows away was Alexei Kudrin, the former finance minister considered close to the president. Mr Kudrin later said it was “unfair” that the director was not allowed to attend his own premieres.

Mr Putin has offered contradictory positions on the affair. At one point, he called investigators “fools”. Later, he walked back the position, suggesting that “serious economic crimes” were involved.

On Monday at a press conference, Peskov refused to comment on Mr Serebrennikov’s release from house arrest.

There had been evidence of dealmaking behind the scenes last week, with a judge delaying a final decision on an appeal by Mr Serebrennikov’s lawyers to release him from house arrest.

Courts can occasionally soften detention terms in prominent cases when there is a need to look merciful Zoya Svetova

Zoya Svetova, a prominent human rights activist, prisons expert and columnist for news site MBK Media, told The Independent the decision was the result of power games behind the scenes.

“Don’t forget this is Byzantium,” she said.

“Courts can occasionally soften detention terms in prominent cases when there is a need to look merciful.”

What it didn’t do was offer any positive sign about the eventual verdict, she said. That would be decided, as it always was, in “the corridors of Kremlin”.