Yury Budanov, the former commander of a tank regiment during the second military campaign in Chechnya, was convicted in the summer of 2003 of murdering an 18-year-old Chechen woman, Elsa Kungayeva, three years earlier and was sentenced to 10 years in jail.
A court in the Volga basin's Ulyanovsk Region upheld his parole request on Wednesday. Budanov, whose parole had been rejected once by the same court, will leave jail 15 months early after January 11.
Budanov admitted killing Kungayeva, but claimed temporary insanity, saying he had strangled her in a fit of rage because he thought she was a sniper. His conviction came after a lengthy legal process involving a controversial retrial and numerous psychiatric reports.
Students, human rights activists, members of political parties and patriot organizations gathered on a central square in the Chechen capital carrying posters that read "The murderer must not be pardoned" and "Where is justice?"
An uncle of the killed Chechen woman, Lema Kungayev, slammed the court's ruling.
"We are angered by the court's decision and believe it to be unjust," he said. "In my opinion, the release of Budanov is a slap not just for the relatives but for every Chechen."
Kungayev said he could not believe that Budanov had repented for the killing. "On the contrary, he has threatened to punish us. This criminal must sit in prison," he said.
Russian society was divided over the issue, with human rights activists seeking the tank commander's conviction, and other groups, including the military, supporting him.
