Russia freed Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired teacher from Michigan, on Wednesday after he spent more than four years in a Russian prison. The release came as US special envoy Steve Witkoff sat down with President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg.
President Donald Trump said he raised Hubbard’s case directly with Putin during a phone call last week. Witkoff thanked Putin at the meeting, telling him the release meant Hubbard was going home to his family.
Russian authorities arrested Hubbard in Izyum, Ukraine, in April 2022. A Moscow court convicted him of mercenary activity in 2024 and sentenced him to nearly seven years. The US State Department designated him as wrongfully detained.
Hubbard waited at St Petersburg’s Pulkovo airport for a flight home, Reuters reported. CBS News reported he will travel to Texas for medical treatment at a military hospital.
Source: Reuters
