Russia releases American Stephen Hubbard during Witkoff visit to St. Petersburg

Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old Michigan man who spent more than four years in Russian custody over allegations that he fought for Ukraine, was freed on Wednesday while U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff held talks with President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg, PBS NewsHour and BBC News reported.

According to the BBC, Putin told the meeting that the former teacher was already at Pulkovo Airport. President Donald Trump said on social media that he had personally pressed Putin for the release in a phone call the previous week. Trump wrote "there was no 'swap' necessary," the BBC reported. Several past releases of Americans from Russia came through prisoner exchanges.

A closed court sentenced Hubbard in 2024 to close to seven years, PBS reported. Russian prosecutors claimed he joined Ukraine's armed forces under contract once the full-scale invasion began in February 2022, and fought for roughly two months before Russian troops captured him. The BBC said the accusation centered on service in a defense unit in the eastern Ukrainian town of Izyum. Under President Joe Biden, Washington had labeled his detention wrongful.

The BBC cited its U.S. partner CBS News as saying Hubbard's health was weak and that he would likely travel to Texas for medical care. PBS reported that a hostage advocacy group in August released a letter it attributed to his sister, which claimed he endured beatings and hunger while held.

Witkoff praised Putin for the release. "You are a humanitarian also, sir," Witkoff told him, according to both outlets. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Washington had pushed the case for a while and that Putin chose to let Hubbard go for humanitarian reasons, PBS reported.

Trump also seemed to justify his recent suspension of sanctions on Russia, arguing that applying them would have derailed talks on Hubbard, according to the BBC. PBS said those sanctions came from a bill Congress approved by a wide margin to back Ukraine. Both outlets also pointed to a new U.S. agreement to buy Russian diesel, and Putin said the initial delivery would depart within a few days, the BBC reported.

A day earlier in Oslo, Witkoff met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and he carried ideas from that session to Putin, among them restarting three-way peace talks, the BBC reported. Putin has not said publicly whether he accepts any of them. Russian state media reported the St. Petersburg meeting ran roughly three hours and touched on Iran and economic ties.

PBS reported that Hubbard is the second American Russia has let go in about two months, following Marine veteran Robert Gilman's release in August. Global Reach, a group that advocates for Americans detained abroad, welcomed the news but noted that five other Americans it represents are still being held in Russia.

Compiled by True News from reporting by PBS NewsHour and BBC News. Each outlet's original story is linked below.

Originally published by True News: https://truenews.bagleyenterprises.net/stories/314