Stephen Hubbard, a retired teacher from Michigan, was freed from Russian custody Wednesday after more than four years, ending his detention under a mercenary conviction his lawyer disputes.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Hubbard’s release during a meeting with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff in St. Petersburg and said Hubbard was at Pulkovo Airport. Hubbard’s law firm, Boies Schiller Flexner, said Russia released him on humanitarian grounds and that he was returning to the United States.
Reuters reported, citing Hubbard’s sister, Patricia Hubbard Fox, that he taught English in Japan for 25 years. Fox said he had lived in Cyprus before moving with a Ukrainian partner to Izyum, in eastern Ukraine, in 2014. She told Reuters that his pension was about $300 a month and that he knew few people in Izyum.
The Moscow City Court sentenced Hubbard to six years and 10 months on Oct. 7, 2024, after a trial closed to the public. The court convicted him of mercenary activity for allegedly fighting for Ukrainian forces. Prosecutors said he joined a Ukrainian territorial defense unit after being promised $1,000 a month.
Hubbard’s U.S. lawyer, Martin De Luca, told Reuters that his client denied belonging to a military or combat unit.
The U.S. Department of State designated Hubbard as wrongfully detained in January 2025, according to an August letter from U.S. senators. NPR reported that Hubbard’s son, Joseph Coleman, said the family had feared for his health and safety during his detention. The senators described emotional and financial hardship for detainees’ families and alleged that Russia used detentions as leverage.
President Donald Trump said Oct. 20 that he had asked Putin to free Hubbard. The Associated Press reported that Hubbard was the second American released by Russia in about two months, following Robert Gilman in August.
