Washington – American citizen Stephen Hubbard has been released from a Russian prison and is on his way home, after US President Donald Trump announced that his administration had secured the release.
In a social media post on Wednesday, Trump wrote: “Stephen is on his way home and will soon be reunited with his family.” He also insisted that the US had not made any concessions in exchange for the freedom of Hubbard, a 74-year-old former teacher from the state of Michigan.
The deal came during a visit to Russia by a senior US envoy, just days after Trump took a series of steps seen as favorable to Moscow.
According to the Russian side, Hubbard was tried behind closed doors and convicted on charges of signing a contract with the Ukrainian military and fighting alongside its forces before his capture. In 2024, he was sentenced to seven years in prison. Hubbard's family says he had been living in Ukraine since before Russia launched its full-scale military campaign in 2022. The US had declared Hubbard to be wrongfully detained.
Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff, who was in Russia to negotiate with President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine, met Hubbard in St. Petersburg shortly after his release. Witkoff told Hubbard: “Your new life starts today.” He also conveyed thanks from “the entire country” to the Russian leader and called Putin “humane” for letting Hubbard go.
The release comes amid shifting relations between the US, Ukraine and Russia. Washington–Kyiv ties are under strain, while the Trump administration is pursuing policies that Ukraine regards as beneficial to President Putin. Last week, Trump decided to waive the application of Russian sanctions under a bill passed by the US Congress by an overwhelming margin to support Ukraine. The bill, named after the late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, targets the financial sources sustaining Moscow's military campaign. The reversal came after Trump announced a deal to import Russian diesel to curb soaring gasoline prices ahead of next month's US midterm elections.
