Russia freed Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired teacher from Michigan, on Wednesday after more than four years in detention. President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff flew to St. Petersburg, met Russian President Vladimir Putin and oversaw the release, ABC News reported.
Hubbard is on his way home. The White House says the United States gave up no prisoner in return, which sets this release apart from earlier ones.
How the release happened
Trump told reporters he asked Putin to free Hubbard during a phone call last week. On Truth Social, he wrote: “Welcome home, Stephen, it’s great to have you back.” Witkoff met Hubbard at Pulkovo airport after the release and later thanked Putin, calling him a humanitarian.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin freed Hubbard on humanitarian grounds. Russia gave no further explanation. On the same day, Russia said it had detained a German national accused of fighting for Ukraine.
Who Hubbard is
Hubbard grew up in Big Rapids, Michigan, and worked as an English teacher. He was living in Izyum, in eastern Ukraine, when Russian forces captured the city in 2022. Russian troops detained him that April. A Moscow court sentenced him in October 2024 to nearly seven years in prison after a closed trial in which prosecutors said he signed a contract with the Ukrainian military and fought for it. He was the first American known to be convicted of fighting for Ukraine in the war.
Hubbard’s family has denied the charge. A Ukrainian police official who investigates war crimes in the Kharkiv region has said Hubbard had no link to the Ukrainian armed forces. The State Department had classified him as wrongfully detained.
His sister, Patricia Hubbard Fox, told ABC News she thanks Trump for bringing her brother home. She learned about the release from the news, not from U.S. officials. Hubbard is expected to fly to San Antonio, where released Americans usually receive medical care at a military base.
The timing
The release comes as Washington and Moscow show signs of warmer ties. Days earlier, Trump waived new sanctions that Congress had passed against Russia, a move we covered in our report on the Russia sanctions waiver. Fox 2 Detroit noted that Hubbard’s release follows that decision.
Other Americans, including some with serious illnesses, remain in Russian prisons. The reports reviewed do not say whether the White House expects further releases.
