Stephen Hubbard had lived for many years in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region when Russia invaded in February 2022. The 74-year-old American, originally from Michigan, had taught English in Japan and lived in Cyprus before settling in Ukraine. He joined territorial defence forces in the first days of the invasion.
Russian forces arrested Hubbard inside an acquaintance’s home in eastern Ukraine in April 2022, two months after prosecutors said he began fighting alongside Ukrainian forces.
Four years later, Russia freed Hubbard on Wednesday, 21 October 2026, after President Donald Trump asked Vladimir Putin to release him. Hubbard was at Pulkovo Airport and preparing to board a flight back to the United States.
Putin announced the decision during talks in St. Petersburg with Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy. Russia released Hubbard unilaterally, rather than through a prisoner swap.
On Tuesday, Trump told reporters: “Watch what happens. We have been focused on Hubbard.” He later said: “I've been talking to him at length. I've asked him to release him. Let's see what happens.”
Russian prosecutors had accused Hubbard of serving in a defence unit in the eastern city of Izyum. They said he signed a contract with the Ukrainian military after the invasion and fought until Russian forces captured him.
A Russian court convicted him of being a mercenary in October 2024, following a closed trial, and sentenced him to almost seven years in a penal colony.
The US State Department designated Hubbard as “wrongfully detained” in January 2025. It described the allegation that he was a Ukrainian mercenary as fabricated, while Hubbard’s family also questioned the charges.
Hubbard was tortured, sometimes starved and placed in the general prison population during his detention. His health is fragile, and he will be flown to a State Department facility in Texas for evaluation and treatment.
His son, Joseph Coleman, a Greek Orthodox priest, spoke with his father by phone in May 2025 while Coleman was in Cyprus. Coleman wrote to Putin in September, pleading for his father’s release.
Witkoff thanked Putin for releasing Hubbard at Wednesday’s meeting, their ninth. Witkoff had arrived at Pulkovo International Airport on Wednesday morning, where Putin’s investment envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, met him.
Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, did not travel with Witkoff after falling sick with the flu. He participated virtually in the meeting with Putin.
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