Russia on Wednesday released Stephen Hubbard, an American jailed for more than four years on charges of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine, in a deal reached during a visit by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff.
The White House said President Donald Trump asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to free Hubbard in a phone call last week. Unlike previous releases, it said, this one did not require the United States to give up anyone in return.
What We Know So Far
Putin announced the release at the start of talks with Witkoff, Reuters said. Hubbard, a former teacher from Michigan, was at Pulkovo airport in St. Petersburg afterward, Putin said.
“Welcome home, Stephen, it’s great to have you back,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, saying Hubbard was on his way home. Witkoff thanked Putin. “Because of you, he’s going home to his family,” he told the Russian leader.
Hubbard, 74, grew up in Big Rapids, Michigan, and served in the U.S. Air Force and National Guard, according to military records cited by The New York Times. His sister, Patricia Hubbard Fox, said he earned a master’s degree in English, taught English in Japan for 25 years, then lived in Cyprus before moving to Izyum in eastern Ukraine in 2014.
A Moscow court convicted him of being a mercenary in October 2024 after a closed trial and sentenced him to six years and 10 months in prison. In January 2025, Washington designated him as wrongfully detained, which allowed the U.S. government to pursue negotiations for his release. The State Department said Russia refused to grant U.S. officials consular access.
The New York Times reported in February 2025 that he had been moved through at least five Russian detention centers before his trial. His lawyer said the legal team learned only in April 2025 that he was held in the Mordovia region, east of Moscow.
What Authorities Are Saying
Eric Lebson, chief strategy officer of Global Reach, a group that works to free Americans held abroad, praised the release. The group represents five other Americans held in Russia. “We know that there are five other families” who will find it hard to understand why their relatives were not included, he said in a statement.
Hubbard is the only American held in Russia who has been designated as wrongfully detained, though advocates say the label should apply to others. Some of those still jailed are seriously ill.
Differing Accounts
Accounts of why Hubbard was in custody differ. Russian prosecutors said he signed a contract with the Ukrainian military after Russia’s full scale invasion in February 2022 and fought with Kyiv’s forces until he was captured two months later. They also said he joined a Ukrainian territorial defense unit, received training, weapons and ammunition, and was promised $1,000 a month. Russian state media said he had pleaded guilty and alleged he manned a Ukrainian military checkpoint. Reuters said it could not independently establish how he was captured.
Hubbard’s lawyer, Martin De Luca, told Reuters in June 2025 that Hubbard said the charges were false, that he was not part of any combat or military unit and that Russian soldiers grabbed him from his house. Fox questioned the reported confession, saying her brother held pro Russian views and was unlikely to have taken up arms in his seventies. Hostage Aid Worldwide, a hostage advocacy group, has called the charges bogus.
In an August open letter that Hostage Aid Worldwide said Fox wrote to Trump, she said her brother had been subjected to “constant beatings, torture and starvation” in custody.
Why This Matters
Hubbard is the second American Russia has freed in roughly two months. In August it released Marine veteran Robert Gilman, who was gravely ill and imprisoned on disputed charges of assaulting a police officer.
The release came as relations among Washington, Kyiv and Moscow are in flux. Witkoff has tried without success to steer Russia and Ukraine toward a settlement of a war that will reach the five year mark in February 2027. He met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Norway on Tuesday and was expected to share ideas from that meeting, along with proposals from European and American colleagues, in Wednesday’s talks in St. Petersburg.
The AP noted that the Washington and Kyiv relationship is facing fresh tensions. Trump has waived sanctions on Russia that were imposed by a bill Congress passed by a wide margin to support Ukraine. The bill is named for the late South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham. Trump also announced a deal to import Russian diesel in an effort to curb high gas prices ahead of next month’s midterm elections.
What Happens Next
Trump said Hubbard is on his way home. Five other Americans represented by Global Reach remain held in Russia, and Witkoff was expected to hold further talks with Russian leaders in St. Petersburg on Wednesday.
Sources: the Associated Press and Reuters, citing The New York Times
