Russia frees American Stephen Hubbard after four years in custody

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Russia frees American Stephen Hubbard after over 4 years behind bars – WTOP News wtop.com

Russia has released Stephen Hubbard, the American sentenced in closed proceedings to nearly seven years for allegedly fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine, during a St Petersburg visit by US envoy Steve Witkoff. Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired teacher from Michigan and US Air Force veteran, had spent more than four years in Russian custody.

Trump told reporters he had asked Putin to free Hubbard in a recent call, and that — unlike previous releases — the United States gave up no one in return. Hubbard's lawyers denied the Russian accusations, saying he was never involved in military activity. Prosecutors claimed he signed a contract with the Ukrainian military after the 2022 invasion and fought alongside Kyiv's forces until captured two months later. His sister, Patricia Hubbard Fox, put it more bluntly: "He was just for bait. It was all about bait. And that's why they kidnap Americans."

The release landed on a day heavy with negotiation news. Witkoff, who has tried without success to steer Russia and Ukraine toward a settlement, held face-to-face talks with Putin on the invasion — and praised the Russian leader as a humanitarian, telling him: "You talk so much about my president being a humanitarian. You are a humanitarian also, sir." Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the American side had raised Hubbard's case for some time and Putin freed him out of humanitarian considerations; aide Yuri Ushakov said Putin had pardoned him. The war reaches its five-year mark in February 2027, and Trump is simultaneously pressing Kyiv toward a deal that stops the fighting.

The pattern is familiar: a unilateral gesture, timed to diplomacy, costing Moscow nothing it valued. Hubbard was taken to St Petersburg's Pulkovo airport, where Witkoff shook his hand and relayed Putin's blessings. His lawyer Martin De Luca said the family thought they would never see him alive again. Hubbard taught English overseas, retired to Cyprus in 2012 — one of his sons is an Orthodox priest there — and later moved to Ukraine to be with a woman he had met, remaining after the relationship ended. He was living there when Russia invaded.