Joseph Coleman thanked U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin after his father, retired American teacher Stephen Hubbard, was released following more than four years in Russian custody, CBS News reported.
Putin announced Hubbard’s release during an Oct. 21 meeting with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff. He said Hubbard was at Pulkovo Airport. EPAM Law, which represented Hubbard in Russia, said Putin had pardoned him and that he was returning to the United States that day.
Trump said Oct. 20 that he had asked Putin to release Hubbard. After the announcement, Trump said the release had required no prisoner swap. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the United States had raised Hubbard’s case over time and Putin decided to free him for humanitarian reasons.
Hubbard had been serving a Russian prison sentence after a disputed conviction tied to allegations that he served with Ukrainian forces. His release was the second involving an American in about two months, following Robert Gilman’s return in August, the Associated Press reported.
