Moscow  -  whom the United States accuses of defrauding it of millions, was freed by a Moscow court on four years probation Thursday.

Adamov, who was held for nearly six years in Switzerland on US prosecutors' request, won his appeal against his February sentencing by a Russian court to five and a half years in prison on charges of embezzling from US and Russian government funds.

That court found Adamov and two colleagues guilty of pocketing more than 30 million dollars from a US-Russian uranium joint venture.

The US put the theft at 9 million dollars, money it said had been meant to improve nuclear safety in Russia.

Adamov at the time had called the sentence "brutal," but when asked Thursday if he would be appealing the sentence, his lawyer answered "Certainly not."

Adamov was arrested in Switzerland in May 2005 and US prosecutors asked for his extradition to face charges in the United States.

Russia succeeded in securing his return to Moscow, charging that the United States sought to extract state nuclear secrets from its ex-minister, who was involved in nuclear energy deals with Iran.(dpa)