Russia has freed Stephen Hubbard, an American who had been imprisoned for more than four years on charges that he fought as a mercenary in Ukraine, the Associated Press reported. The release was completed during a visit to St. Petersburg by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and came as President Donald Trump and his administration have taken a series of steps that critics say ease pressure on Moscow.
Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired teacher from Michigan and a U.S. Air Force veteran, was flown from St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo airport after Kremlin aides said President Vladimir Putin pardoned him on “humanitarian considerations,” AP reported. Hubbard was brought to the airport to meet Witkoff, who had traveled to Russia for talks with Putin about the war in Ukraine.
Prosecutors in Russia had accused Hubbard of signing a contract with Ukraine’s military after the Russian invasion in 2022 and of fighting alongside Ukrainian forces until his capture roughly two months later; he was sentenced in 2024 to nearly seven years in prison in closed court proceedings, AP said. Hubbard’s legal team and U.S.-based advocates have disputed those allegations, and the Biden administration had designated him as wrongfully detained.
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Trump said on Truth Social that he had raised Hubbard’s case with Putin during a phone call last week and that no prisoner exchange was required. “Welcome home, Stephen, it’s great to have you back,” Trump wrote.
Witkoff, a key figure in the Trump administration’s diplomatic outreach to Moscow, thanked Putin after the release and called him a humanitarian. “Because of you, he’s going home to his family,” Witkoff told the Russian leader, and later said, “You talk so much about my president, President Trump, being a humanitarian. You are a humanitarian also, sir.” Video from the airport showed Witkoff and Hubbard shaking hands and the newly released American thanking the envoy.
Witkoff also told Hubbard, “We just met President Putin, he sends you blessings and wishes you good things,” AP reported. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Hubbard’s case had been raised repeatedly by the American side and that Putin decided to free him for humanitarian reasons.
Hubbard’s lawyers at the U.S. firm Boies Schiller Flexner and the Russian firm EPAM Law — which previously worked on securing the release of American teacher Marc Fogel — represented him. Martin De Luca, one of Hubbard’s attorneys, told AP that the family feared for his life while he was detained and described their relief at his return.
The release comes amid heightened diplomatic activity and political controversy. AP noted that it follows a separate decision by the Trump administration to waive certain sanctions tied to a congressional bill aimed at restricting financial flows that support Russia’s war in Ukraine, and the president’s announcement of a proposal to import Russian diesel. Witkoff had met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Norway on Tuesday and was expected to share ideas from that meeting in his talks in St. Petersburg.
Hubbard is the second American freed by Russia in recent months; Marine veteran Robert Gilman was released in August after being imprisoned on disputed charges, AP reported. Advocates say other U.S. citizens remain detained in Russia, including people with serious illnesses. Global Reach, an advocacy group that represents Americans held abroad, praised Hubbard’s release but urged that other detainees be brought home.
“We are grateful to the Trump Administration for reuniting Stephen Hubbard with his family, but at the same time, we know that there are five other families of Americans held in Russia who are going to have a hard time understanding why their loved one was not included in the deal,” Eric Lebson, the group’s chief strategy officer, said in a statement reported by AP.
Human-rights and hostage advocacy groups, including Hostage Aid Worldwide, have called the charges against Hubbard and some other detained foreigners bogus. Russian authorities have also announced recent arrests of other foreign nationals, with the FSB saying this week it detained a German national on suspicion of mercenary activities and previously announcing arrests of a Swedish national accused of sabotage and a Japanese journalist accused of espionage, AP reported.
