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Russia has released Stephen Hubbard, a retired American teacher from Michigan who spent more than four years in prison after being detained by Russian forces in eastern Ukraine.
Hubbard’s release came as Washington intensifies talks to end the war in Ukraine, AnewZ reports. The development has raised questions about who Hubbard is, why he was jailed and what his release could mean for U.S.-Russia relations.
Hubbard’s release and the circumstances of his detention
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Hubbard’s release on Wednesday during a meeting in St. Petersburg with U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Putin said Hubbard had already been taken to the city’s Pulkovo Airport.
Trump confirmed the release on social media, saying he had personally asked Putin to free Hubbard during a phone call the previous week.
Witkoff thanked Putin at the meeting. He said Hubbard was on his way home and would soon be reunited with his family.
Before his arrest, Hubbard spent much of his adult life abroad. According to military records cited by The New York Times, he grew up in Big Rapids, Michigan, and served in the U.S. Air Force and National Guard.
His sister, Patricia Hubbard Fox, said he earned a master’s degree in English and later taught in Japan for 25 years. Hubbard subsequently moved to Cyprus and, in 2014, settled with his Ukrainian partner in the eastern Ukrainian city of Izium.
Fox told Reuters in 2024 that her brother lived on a pension of about $300 a month and had little contact with local residents.
About two months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian forces took control of Izium. Ukrainian forces recaptured the city in September that year, but Hubbard remained in Russian custody.
Russian state media alleged that he was detained in April 2022 while serving at a Ukrainian military checkpoint. Reuters has been unable to independently verify the circumstances of his detention.
Fox said she recognized her brother in videos posted online. In one clip, he appears with his hands tied as a person strikes him with a slipper. Reuters has been unable to verify when or where the footage was recorded.
His court sentence and the diplomatic significance of his release
In October 2024, a Moscow court found Hubbard guilty of acting as a mercenary in a closed-door trial and sentenced him to six years and 10 months in prison.
Prosecutors alleged that he had joined a Ukrainian territorial defense unit, received military training and weapons and ammunition, and was promised $1,000 a month. Russian state media said Hubbard had pleaded guilty. He was the first known U.S. citizen convicted of fighting on Ukraine’s side after Russia’s full-scale invasion.
His family and lawyer strongly rejected the charges. Fox questioned the reported confession, saying her brother held pro-Russian views and that it was implausible he would take up arms in his 70s.
His U.S.-based lawyer, Martin De Luca, said in June 2025 that Hubbard denied ever belonging to a military or combat unit and said Russian soldiers had taken him from his home.
Washington formally designated Hubbard as wrongfully detained in January 2025. The status allowed U.S. officials to negotiate for his release. The State Department said Russia had not allowed American officials to conduct a consular visit with Hubbard during his imprisonment.
It was also difficult to establish where Hubbard was being held. The New York Times reported that he had been moved among at least five Russian prisons before his trial. His lawyer said the defense team learned only in April 2025 that Hubbard was being held in Mordovia, east of Moscow.
NBC News described Hubbard as the last American held in Russia to be officially designated as wrongfully detained.
Unlike several previous high-profile releases, Hubbard’s freedom was not secured through a prisoner exchange. Trump called the deal unprecedented, saying Washington had offered nothing in return.
The Kyiv Independent noted that Trump had dropped sanctions against Russia the previous week and agreed earlier that month to purchase Russian diesel fuel. NBC News described Hubbard’s release as another sign of improving relations between Washington and Moscow. The United States is seeking to steer Ukraine toward an agreed settlement.
Witkoff traveled to St. Petersburg to revive stalled peace talks and arrange a trilateral meeting between Putin, Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. However, according to The Kyiv Independent, Russian state media did not report that Putin had agreed to take part in such talks.
The case has also renewed longstanding concerns about the detention of foreign nationals in Russia. Analysts and human rights advocates have repeatedly accused Moscow of using foreign prisoners as bargaining chips in diplomatic negotiations.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev wrote in a Telegram post on October 9 that Russia might have to add Europeans and Americans to its exchange pool.
Hubbard is the second U.S. citizen to be released from Russia in about two months. Robert Gilman, a former U.S. Marine imprisoned on charges of assaulting a police officer and in poor health, was released in August.
Several other U.S. citizens, including some with serious health problems, remain in Russian custody. Global Reach, an organization representing five Americans detained in Russia, welcomed Hubbard’s release. The group’s chief strategy officer, Eric Lebson, said the families of those still imprisoned would struggle to understand why their loved ones were left out of the deal.
Hubbard is expected to return to the United States. After more than four years in Russian custody, he is likely to undergo medical examinations. His release has raised questions about whether it will help efforts to end the war in Ukraine and whether other Americans held in Russia will soon be freed.
