Russia Frees American Stephen Hubbard After Nearly Five Years as Trump Envoy Meets Putin
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Image: NBC News.
Russia released Stephen James Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired American teacher from Michigan, on Wednesday after nearly five years in Russian custody, announcing the release at the start of a meeting between President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg, according to NPR and NBC News.
Hubbard had lived for years in Izyum, in eastern Ukraine, after teaching English abroad for decades. Russian state media said he was detained in April 2022, two months into Russia’s full-scale invasion, and alleged he had manned a Ukrainian military checkpoint; the New York Post, carrying Reuters reporting, noted Reuters could not independently establish that claim. A Russian court sentenced him after a closed 2024 trial to nearly seven years in a penal colony on charges of serving as a mercenary. The United States formally designated him wrongfully detained under the Biden administration, NPR reported.
Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov said Hubbard was handed over to Witkoff at St Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport, and Trump later said the former teacher was “on his way back home” and that “there was no ‘swap’ necessary.” His lawyer, Martin De Luca, told NBC News Hubbard was “overwhelmed with joy” about reuniting with his children; CBS News, the BBC’s US media partner, reported he was in poor health and expected to be flown to Texas for treatment.
Witkoff called Putin a humanitarian during the meeting, drawing criticism from Republican Rep. Don Bacon and Sen. John Cornyn; Vice President JD Vance said he cared “much less about what Steve said than about the fact that he is bringing an American hostage home.” Trump said the release followed a request he “made directly” to Putin and wrote that if sanctions on Russia had been implemented, negotiations for Hubbard could have been affected, according to The Hill.