Russia frees detained American Stephen Hubbard during US envoy's visit
Russia on Wednesday released retired American teacher Stephen Hubbard, who had been jailed for allegedly fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine. US envoy Steve Witkoff announced it while meeting President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg.
Russia on Wednesday, 21 October, released Stephen Hubbard, a retired American teacher jailed for allegedly fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine. US envoy Steve Witkoff announced the release during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg. It comes as Russia's war on Ukraine continues and as Washington and Moscow maintain contact over a possible settlement.
The release came a day after US President Donald Trump said he had spoken at length with Putin and urged him to free Hubbard. The White House said that, unlike in earlier releases, the United States was not required to give up anyone in return.
Witkoff, who has made several unsuccessful trips to Russia aimed at reaching a settlement of the war, thanked Putin. “Because of you, he's going home to his family,” he told him.
Background to the case
Russia first imprisoned Hubbard in 2022. Hostage Aid Worldwide, a hostage advocacy group, has described the charges against him as bogus. In 2024, after a closed-door trial, he was sentenced to nearly seven years in prison. Russian prosecutors accused him of joining the Ukrainian military after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022 and of fighting alongside Ukrainian forces until he was captured two months later. The Biden administration had classified Hubbard as wrongfully detained.
Second American freed in two months
Hubbard is the second American Russia has released in roughly two months. In August, it freed Robert Gilman, a former US Marine who was seriously ill and had been jailed on contested charges of assaulting a police officer.
The release coincided with Witkoff's visit and came as Trump has taken several steps favourable to Moscow, amid growing tensions between Washington and Kyiv. In an open letter to Trump published by Hostage Aid Worldwide in August, Hubbard's sister, Patricia Hubbard Fox, praised the president but also claimed her brother had endured “constant beatings, torture and starvation” in detention.
