Russia frees US citizen Stephen Hubbard as Putin meets Trump envoy
Russia released Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old American imprisoned after being accused of fighting for Ukraine, as President Vladimir Putin met US special envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg on Wednesday.
Putin said Hubbard had been taken to Pulkovo Airport. President Donald Trump later said Hubbard was on his way home and that no prisoner swap or other exchange had been required. Trump said the release followed a request he made directly to Putin the previous week.
Hubbard, a retired teacher from Michigan who had lived in Ukraine, was detained by Russian forces in the eastern city of Izyum in April 2022. Russian prosecutors alleged that he joined a Ukrainian territorial defence unit, received military training and weapons, and served at a checkpoint. He was convicted of mercenary activity in a closed-door trial and sentenced in 2024 to nearly seven years in a penal colony. …