Russia freed imprisoned American on Wednesday for more than four years accused of having fought as a mercenary in Ukraine, a deal reached during a visit of a senior American envoy and at a time when President Donald Trump has taken a series of measures intended to benefit Moscow.
Trump told reporters at the White House that he recently asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to release Stephen Hubbard and that, contrary to previous statements, the United States did not have to give up anyone in return.
“He’s the happiest man in the world,” Trump said of Hubbard, describing the 74-year-old retired Michigan teacher as an “innocent, very high-quality man.”
Hubbard’s release came during a visit to St. Petersburg by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, who in a face-to-face meeting with Putin praised the Russian leader as a “humanitarian” as the men discussed Full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Moscow and like Trump simultaneously Kyiv pushes to reach an agreement that ends the fighting.
AP AUDIO: Russia releases American Stephen Hubbard after more than 4 years behind bars
AP correspondent Ed Donahue reports that an American detained in Russia is now free.
Hubbard, who had been living in Ukraine for years before his arrest, was sentenced in 2024 to nearly seven years in prison during a closed-door trial. Prosecutors said he signed a contract with Ukraine’s military after Russia’s invasion in 2022 and fought alongside kyiv’s forces until his capture two months later.
The U.S. government under President Joe Biden’s administration designated Hubbard as wrongly detained, and his legal team and family have disputed the Russian allegations, saying he was not involved in any military activity.
“He was just bait. It was all about bait. And that’s why they kidnap Americans,” his sister, Patricia Hubbard Fox, said in an interview with The Associated Press. She said she expected Hubbard to stay with her in Colorado.
“Steven James Hubbard is the face of America,” she said. “They could do this to anyone. They saw him by chance. ‘Oh, he’s an American, let’s go get him.'”
US envoy calls Putin ‘humanitarian’
Witkoffa key figure in the Trump administration who unsuccessfully attempted to steer Russia and Ukraine toward a settlement aimed at ending a conflict. war which will celebrate its fifth anniversary in February 2027thanked Putin for freeing Hubbard, telling him: “Thanks to you, he is returning home to his family. »
“You talk so much about my president, President Trump, that he’s a humanitarian. You’re a humanitarian, too, sir,” Witkoff said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian media on Wednesday that Hubbard’s release had been “raised by the American side for some time” and that Putin had decided to release the man for “humanitarian considerations.”
Speaking to reporters after the talks, Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s adviser, said the Kremlin leader had pardoned Hubbard, who after his release was taken to St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport for Witkoff to take home to the United States.
The video showed Witkoff and Hubbard shaking hands, with the newly freed American thanking the envoy. Witkoff introduced Putin’s envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, to Hubbard and described him as someone “who had a lot to do with this event.”
“We just met with President Putin, he sends you his blessings and wishes you good things,” Witkoff added.
Hubbard, a U.S. Air Force veteran, taught English overseas and retired in 2012 to Cyprus, where one of his sons is an Orthodox Christian priest. He then moved to Ukraine to be with a woman he had met, his lawyers said, remaining in the country after the relationship ended and living there at the time of the 2022 Russian invasion.
His case was taken up by lawyers from the American law firm Boies Schiller Flexner and the Russian law firm EPAM Law, who together had represented Marc Fogelthe American teacher freed from Russian detention last year, and worked for his release.
“They thought they wouldn’t see him alive again, and Stephen didn’t think he would come out alive,” Martin De Luca, one of Hubbard’s lawyers at the Boies Schiller firm, said in an interview about Hubbard’s family. “Obviously they’re thrilled, but they really feel like it’s a miracle. »
His sister said she spoke with Hubbard after his release. “He was just laughing. He said, ‘I can’t believe this is happening,'” Hubbard Fox said of his brother.
More Americans remain imprisoned in Russia
The release comes at a dynamic time in relations between the United States, Ukraine and Russia, with relations between Washington and kyiv roiled by new tensions just as the Trump administration advances policies that help Putin.
These include Trump’s decision last week to waive sanctions to Russia imposed by a bill that Congress widely adopted to support Ukraine.
Named after the late Republican senator from South Carolina. Lindsey Grahamthe legislation targeted the flow of financial resources fueling the war from Moscow. The move followed Trump’s announcement of a deal to import Russian diesel fuel as part of a long-term effort to curb pollution. high gas prices ahead of next month’s US midterm elections.
Witkoff met with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in Norway on Tuesday. He was to exchange ideas from this meeting, as well as proposals from his European and American colleagues, during his talks with Russian leaders in St. Petersburg.
Hubbard is the second American freed by Russia in about two months. following the August release of Marine veteran Robert Gilmanwho was seriously ill and was jailed on controversial charges of assaulting a police officer.
Other Americans, some suffering from serious illnesses, remain imprisoned in Russia. Hubbard was the last American designated as unjustly detained, although his defenders say that label should be applied to other prisoners.
Russia reports new arrests strangers in recent days. The FSB security service said Wednesday it had arrested a German national suspected of mercenary activities and last week announced the arrest of a Swedish national suspected of sabotage and a Japanese journalist accused of espionage.
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Associated Press writer Thomas Peipert contributed to this report.
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