Russia Frees American Teacher Stephen Hubbard After More Than Four Years in Prison

Russia Frees American Teacher Stephen Hubbard After More Than Four Years in Prison

A pardon handed over during Ukraine talks

Russia freed American citizen Stephen Hubbard on Wednesday, October 21, as President Vladimir Putin met U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff in St. Petersburg. Hubbard, 74, is a retired English teacher from Big Rapids, Michigan, and a U.S. military veteran who had been held for more than four years on a mercenary conviction. After his release he was taken to St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport so Witkoff could fly him home.

From Michigan to a classroom in eastern Ukraine

Hubbard relocated to Izyum, a city in Ukraine's Kharkiv Oblast, in 2014, where he settled down with a local Ukrainian partner and taught English. Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022 and seized Izyum about two months later. Ukrainian forces retook the city in September 2022, but by then Hubbard was already in Russian custody.

Six years and ten months for fighting as a mercenary

In October 2024, a Moscow City Court convicted Hubbard of acting as a mercenary in a closed trial and sentenced him to six years and ten months in prison under Part 3 of Article 359 of the Russian Criminal Code. Prosecutors said he had joined a Ukrainian territorial defense unit, received training, weapons and ammunition, and was promised $1,000 a month. Russian state media said Hubbard pleaded guilty to the charges.

Moscow calls it a humanitarian decision

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian media that the release "was raised by the American side for a certain time" and that Putin decided to free him out of "humanitarian considerations." Putin aide Yuri Ushakov said after the talks that the Kremlin leader had pardoned Hubbard, who was taken to Pulkovo airport for Witkoff to bring him home. Russia gave no further details.

Trump asked, and says nothing was given in return

President Trump wrote on Truth Social that he had asked Putin during a phone call the previous week to release Hubbard, adding: "Welcome home, Stephen, it's great to have you back." Unlike previous releases, Trump said, the United States "was not required to give anything in return — an unprecedented situation for Russia." The State Department called the release "a welcome step that we hope leads to the release of all Americans unjustly held in Russia," while noting that "there are currently no Americans determined to be wrongfully detained in Russia."

Handshakes and a departure from Pulkovo

Video from the Russian state news agency RIA showed Hubbard, wearing a green jacket and smiling, greeting Witkoff and telling him: "Thank you very much for all your efforts." Witkoff praised Putin directly: "You talk so much about my president, President Trump, being a humanitarian — you are a humanitarian also sir, and I salute that. I commend you." Trump later told reporters he raised Hubbard's case while talking with Putin about settling the war in Ukraine.

The second release in roughly two months

Hubbard was the second American freed by Russia in about two months, following the August release of Marine veteran Robert Gilman, who had been gravely ill and imprisoned on disputed charges of assaulting a police officer. Other Americans, including some with serious illnesses, remain jailed in Russia.

Others have gone home before

American teacher Marc Fogel was released earlier, The Hill reported in February, after serving a 14-year sentence in a penal colony on a conviction for trying to enter Russia in 2021 while carrying medical marijuana; CBS News described Fogel's release as occurring early last year. In 2024, journalist Evan Gershkovich and Marine veteran Paul Whelan were among those released from Russian custody in a complicated multi-country prisoner swap.

Lawyers and a long letter

Hubbard's case was handled by lawyers at the U.S. firm Boies Schiller Flexner and the Russian firm EPAM Law, which together had represented Fogel. NBC News reported that a Greek Orthodox priest living in Cyprus, Coleman, had written Putin "a long and very emotional letter" a month earlier. During his detention Hubbard was moved through several facilities, including a remand prison in Russia's Bryansk region and colonies in Vladimir region and the Republic of Mordovia.

Heading to Texas, the label debate lingers

Hubbard's lawyer Martin De Luca said he spoke with his client Wednesday as Hubbard was "getting ready to take off" on a plane bound for the United States, and that Hubbard was overjoyed to be released. BBC News, citing CBS News, reported that Hubbard had been in poor health and was expected to be flown to Texas for treatment. Hubbard was the last American held in Russia whom Washington designated as wrongfully detained; PBS noted that advocates argue the label should apply to other prisoners, and The Guardian described the release as Moscow's latest move to draw Trump closer to Putin's position on Ukraine.