American citizen Stephen Hubbard was released after being imprisoned in Russia for more than four years, Russian state media announced Wednesday.
Hubbard was taken hostage in Izyum in Ukraine, where he lived, and taken to Bryansk In Russia, when troops occupied the city in April 2022. The Kremlin accused him of fighting for the Ukrainian armed forces and the Moscow City Court convicted him of being a mercenary in 2024.
According to TASS, Poutine said at the start of his meeting with the American special envoy Steve Wittkoff that the 74-year-old man had been released and transferred to St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo International Airport.
Witkoff thanked Poutineadding that he had recently met Hubbard son: “He is a priest in the church, and we spoke with him. And I thank you for the release of his father,” he said said.
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