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Russia released retired American teacher Stephen Hubbard on Wednesday after he was jailed for allegedly fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine, US envoy Steve Witkoff said during a meeting with President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg.
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 previous releases, the US was not required to give up anyone in return.
Witkoff, who has made multiple unsuccessful visits to Russia in order to reach a settlement in its war on Ukraine, thanked Putin, telling him, “Because of you, he’s going home to his family.”
Hubbard was first imprisoned by Russia in 2022 on charges that Hostage Aid Worldwide, a hostage advocacy group, has called bogus. He was sentenced to nearly seven years in prison following a closed-door trial in 2024.
Russian prosecutors accused him of joining the Ukrainian military after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022 and fighting alongside Ukrainian forces until his capture two months later.
The Biden administration had classified Hubbard as wrongfully detained.
He is the second American released by Russia in roughly two months, following the release in August of former US Marine Robert Gilman, who had been seriously ill and was jailed on contested charges of assaulting a police officer.
His 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” while in detention.
Additional sources • AP