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Two former Ukrainian prisoners who were held alongside US citizen Stephen Hubbard say they witnessed Russian guards beating and humiliating him during his detention, according to the BBC.
Dmytro Khyliuk said he first met Hubbard at Novozybkov prison in Russia’s Bryansk region, near the Ukrainian border, in September 2022. He recalled guards asking during inspections which cell held the American, using obscene language, threatening Hubbard and mocking him from the first days.
Ihor Shyshko said Hubbard’s nationality drew particular attention from prison officers. He said they mocked Hubbard, made him learn Russian, sing the national anthem and repeat prison rules that he could not read.
Hubbard was captured in April 2022, when Russian forces occupied the eastern Ukrainian city of Izyum, where he lived with his Ukrainian partner. He was accused of serving in Ukraine’s armed forces, convicted at a trial in Moscow and sentenced to six years and 10 months. Shyshko and Khyliuk were held alongside him while he awaited trial.
Former prisoners describe beatings and poor conditions
Shyshko said he witnessed and heard guards beat Hubbard on his legs, back and arms and use a stun gun on him. He also said Hubbard was denied food and medical care and kept in the cold. According to Shyshko, guards treated Hubbard more harshly because he was American, called him a mercenary and said: “Let’s beat him.”
Shyshko, a captured Ukrainian soldier, also alleged that Hubbard was subjected to sexual humiliation and abuse for prison staff’s entertainment. The accounts from Shyshko and Khyliuk support statements by Hubbard’s family that he was tortured in prison.
Hubbard was released by the Kremlin after four-and-a-half years in captivity, on the day US special envoy Steve Witkoff met Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg to discuss the war in Ukraine. Witkoff praised Putin as a “humanitarian” despite Russia’s full-scale invasion and daily attacks across Ukraine. US President Donald Trump said he had asked Putin to free Hubbard during a phone call the previous week.
Khyliuk, a journalist, was detained in the early days of the invasion, when Russian troops advanced towards Kyiv. He said he realised Hubbard’s health was deteriorating during the months they were held in nearby cells, as he heard Hubbard complain and noticed guards calling him to the prison doctor more often.
Khyliuk described broken windows and severe cold at Novozybkov, saying detainees huddled together in the bathroom for warmth when they were allowed out of their cells. He said conditions there were worse than at the next prison and “terribly cold” in winter.
Hubbard’s condition worsened at Pakino, witness says
Both men met Hubbard again at Pakino prison. Shyshko said Hubbard’s condition had worsened, describing rot on his knees and feet. He said prisoners had scabies and Hubbard was so weak that Shyshko once bandaged him at the medical centre after a doctor refused to do so.
The former prisoners described a harsh regime and a meagre diet of porridge, bread and potatoes. They said detainees faced beatings and humiliation, and were made to run or hold stress positions. Shyshko said a dog handler sometimes let a dog bite prisoners on their buttocks, elbows or legs, leaving wounds that became infected.
Khyliuk alleged that shortly after their transfer to Pakino, Hubbard was hidden to prevent a visiting International Committee of the Red Cross team from seeing his condition. He said he believed the organisation, which receives substantial funding, could do more, adding that visitors saw only what was shown to them.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said that whenever it is granted access, it requests to see every individual and assess their conditions. It added that it continued discussions with parties to the conflict on the issue.
Khyliuk said Hubbard disappeared from the prison in 2024, and he thought he had been released. Khyliuk was returned to Ukraine in a prisoner exchange in August 2025.
Comparing the treatment to the regime of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, Khyliuk called Russian captivity “a torture machine” and said it involved psychological and physical abuse, beatings, hunger, cold, lack of information and no opportunity to communicate with other prisoners.
He said he was pleased Hubbard had finally been released and was heading to the US. “I understand what it is like to be in terrible captivity. Moreover, it was not his war. He ended up in the wrong place and at the wrong time,” Khyliuk said.
Khyliuk described the timing of Hubbard’s release as “shameful PR of the US president, who is losing votes in elections to Congress”. Shyshko said he hoped their torturers would one day face justice: “Evil must be punished, and so it will be. I have hope for that.”
