ع
Russian state media reported the release of Stephen Hubbard hours after US special envoy Steve Witkoff visited St. Petersburg where discussions with Russian officials included the American’s case. President Donald Trump confirmed that he had spoken at length with Vladimir Putin about securing Hubbard’s freedom and urged his Russian counterpart to let the 74-year-old return home. A US official told CNN prior to the trip that Witkoff’s mission reflected Trump’s ongoing commitment to bringing wrongfully detained Americans back from Russia while Trump himself told reporters to expect developments within days.
Hubbard a retired English teacher and US Air Force veteran from Michigan had lived in the eastern Ukrainian city of Izyum since 2014 after earlier years in Japan and Cyprus according to his sister and details compiled by Reuters. Russian forces detained him in April 2022 shortly after occupying the area during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine The New York Times reported that Hubbard became an unlikely figure in the conflict as the only known American seized from Ukraine and transferred to Russian prisons. His family described him as a pacifist who never learned the local languages and survived on a modest pension while holding pro-Russian views that made the later accusations seem implausible to them.
Prosecutors claimed Hubbard had contracted with a Ukrainian territorial defence unit for roughly $1,000 monthly received training and weapons and participated in the fighting a charge he reportedly acknowledged during a closed-door trial. A Moscow court convicted him in October 2024 and imposed a sentence of six years and 10 months The Washington Post noted noting that time already served in multiple detention centres would reduce the effective term. His sister Patricia Hubbard Fox rejected the allegations entirely telling outlets that Russian claims were lies and that her brother had simply been grabbed from his house without any involvement in combat.
The US State Department designated Hubbard as wrongfully detained in January 2025 which triggered heightened government efforts to negotiate his release Reuters reported while also highlighting that Moscow had refused consular access throughout his imprisonment. He was moved through at least five different Russian facilities before his location in a Mordovia penal colony became known to his legal team in April 2025 according to accounts gathered by The New York Times. Hubbard’s case stood out among other detained Americans because of his age and the circumstances of his arrest inside Ukraine rather than on Russian territory.
Hubbard becomes the latest American freed from Russian custody after Robert Gilman was released in August 2026 on humanitarian grounds amid serious health concerns CNN reported. At one point last year the State Department counted Hubbard among roughly a dozen US citizens held in Russia following a major prisoner exchange that freed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and others. Senators had pressed the administration to prioritise veterans like Hubbard and Navy veteran Chuck Zimmerman who remain among those still detained according to a letter cited by Stars and Stripes.
Trump’s personal intervention appears to have accelerated progress on a case that had lingered since the early months of the Ukraine war. The president told reporters in the Oval Office that negotiations had been under way for some time and that it was time for Hubbard to come home. US officials continue to press for the release of any remaining Americans while monitoring how this development fits into broader diplomatic exchanges between Washington and Moscow.
