Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Wednesday that Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old American citizen held in Russian custody since 2022, has been freed, according to Reuters. Hubbard was at St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo airport, Russian state media reported, as Putin made the announcement during a meeting with US envoy Steve Witkoff.
Hubbard, a retired schoolteacher from Michigan, had been serving a nearly seven-year prison sentence following a conviction for mercenary activity at a closed-door trial. He was arrested in April 2022 in the eastern Ukrainian city of Izyum, where Russian prosecutors alleged he had been manning a Ukrainian military checkpoint. Russian state media reported that he pleaded guilty to the charges.
His US-based lawyer, Martin De Luca, previously told Reuters that Hubbard had said the charges against him were false and that he was not part of any combat or military unit. At the time of his release, Hubbard was the only US prisoner held by Russia designated by Washington as “wrongfully detained.”
A goodwill gesture during peace talks
The release came during Witkoff’s high-stakes visit to St. Petersburg to present Moscow with an updated US proposal to end the war in Ukraine, raising speculation that the move was a goodwill gesture toward Washington. Putin did not give further details in comments published by Russian state media, and the Kremlin offered no explanation of the terms of the release.
Trump administration officials confirmed the release on the record. According to additional reporting, as many as 10 other Americans, including dual nationals, remain in Russian custody, and the timing of Hubbard’s release — days after Trump waived some sanctions on Russia just before they were due to take effect — drew both praise from the Kremlin and criticism from several US lawmakers.
What happens next
Hubbard’s family had little contact with him during his detention, and his case had been a persistent point of friction between Washington and Moscow. His release removes the last “wrongfully detained” American from Russian custody, though it leaves open the question of whether Moscow will use remaining detainees as leverage in the broader negotiations over Ukraine.
The development adds a human dimension to a day of intense diplomacy, with the Witkoff-Putin meeting expected to set the tone for the next phase of US-led efforts to end a war now in its fifth year.
