Putin announces release of US teacher Stephen Hubbard from Russian prison

St Petersburg, Russia. President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Stephen Hubbard, a retired American schoolteacher aged 74 who had been held by Russia since 2022, had been released from prison and taken to Pulkovo airport in St Petersburg.

Release announced during US envoy’s visit

Putin disclosed Hubbard’s release while meeting US envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg, but provided no further details.

During the televised meeting, Witkoff conveyed thanks from the US president and the American nation. He credited Putin with enabling Hubbard to return to his family.

President Donald Trump subsequently confirmed the release on Truth Social, saying Washington had not been required to provide anything in exchange.

In a statement, Hubbard’s US-based lawyer, Martin De Luca, thanked Trump, Witkoff and other American officials for obtaining his client’s freedom. He described the release as “a dividend earned along the hard road to peace”.

Conviction and disputed allegations

Hubbard, who is from Michigan, had been serving a Russian prison term of six years and a further 10 months after being convicted of mercenary activity in a trial held behind closed doors.

His arrest took place in April 2022 in Izyum, an eastern Ukrainian city. Russian prosecutors alleged that he had staffed a Ukrainian military checkpoint.

According to prosecutors, Hubbard joined a territorial defence unit in Ukraine, underwent training and received weapons and ammunition. They also alleged that he had been promised monthly pay of $1,000.

Russian state media said Hubbard entered a guilty plea. De Luca, however, previously told Reuters that Hubbard had denied the allegations to him and said he had belonged to neither a combat unit nor a military unit.

Speaking to Reuters in 2024, Hubbard’s sister, Patricia Fox Hubbard, also challenged the claim that he had taken up arms on behalf of any government. She cited his advanced age and described him as “so non-military”.