From what I hear, they were freed from the contract because of specific clauses. Did you check the Russians side of the story?
What you suggest is certainly possible. It would take a team of lawyers to go over the fine print on the contracts.
I can't do that, and regretably, the press no longer does its job investigating this kind of story. The press should investigate, get copies of the contracts, consult their lawyers. But they probably won't bother to check who is telling the truth.