A Russian pardon committee on Monday recommended the release of Namma Issachar, an Israeli jailed in the country on drug charges.
Issachar submitted her application on Sunday after Russian President Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov said last week that a pardon will only be considered if Issachar submits the request herself.
The committee's decision will be forwarded to Russian President Vladimir Putin for final approval.
During his visit to Israel last week, Putin met with Issachar's mother, Yaffa, and assured her "everything will be alright" - hinting that her daughter would be released soon.
Yaffa Issachar traveled to Moscow early Sunday, saying she hopes to return home with her daughter.
"Naama was recently told she would be moved to another prison but that had not happened so far, I hope that is a good sign," Yaffa Issachar told reporters at Ben-Gurion Airport before her departure.
Both President Reuven Rivlin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had sent a request to pardon Issachar, but the High Commissioner for Human rights, who visited Issachar in her prison cell Thursday, told the jailed Israeli that according to Russian law, she herself would have to sign a clemency request before it could be considered.
Last month an appeal made by Issachar was rejected despite her claim that she was found guilty of drug trafficking after she was made to sign documents in Russian which she did not understand.
The 26-year-old was arrested in April at a Moscow airport, where she was transferring en route from India to Israel. Russian authorities said more than nine grams of contraband were found in her luggage. She was charged with drug smuggling and sentenced to seven and a half years in prison.