 |
Moscow’s Kremlin and historic cathedrals at sunset, shown in an illustrative image.
Who Is Stephen Hubbard, the US Citizen Released by Russia?
MOSCOW — October 21, 2026
Russia has released Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old American retired teacher who had been imprisoned after a Russian court convicted him of fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Hubbard’s release on Wednesday as he began talks with US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Hubbard grew up in Big Rapids, Michigan, and served in the US Air Force and National Guard, according to military records cited by The New York Times. He later earned a master’s degree in English and spent about 25 years teaching English in Japan.
He subsequently moved to Cyprus and, in 2014, settled in Izyum in eastern Ukraine with a Ukrainian partner, according to his sister, Patricia Hubbard Fox. Fox told Reuters in 2024 that her brother lived on a pension of about $300 a month and had few connections with local residents. The siblings last spoke in September 2021.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and captured Izyum two months later. Ukrainian forces retook the city in September that year, but Hubbard was already in Russian custody.
Russian state media reported that Hubbard was detained in April 2022 and accused him of manning a Ukrainian military checkpoint. Reuters said it could not independently establish the circumstances of his capture.
Fox later recognised her brother in a YouTube video showing a man being questioned about his views on Putin and the war. Another video appeared to show him with his hands bound while being struck with a sandal. Reuters could not verify when or where either video was recorded.
A Moscow court convicted Hubbard in a closed trial in October 2024, sentencing him to six years and 10 months in prison for being a mercenary. Russian prosecutors said he had joined a Ukrainian territorial defence unit, received military training and weapons, and been promised $1,000 a month. Russian state media reported that he pleaded guilty.
His sister disputed the account, saying Hubbard held pro-Russian views and was unlikely to have joined an armed unit in his seventies. His US-based lawyer, Martin De Luca, told Reuters in June 2025 that Hubbard had denied the charges and said he had not served in a combat or military unit. According to the lawyer, Hubbard said Russian soldiers had taken him from his home.
In January 2025, the US government designated Hubbard as wrongfully detained, allowing Washington to pursue negotiations for his release. The US State Department had said Russia refused to provide American officials with consular access. The New York Times reported in February 2025 that Hubbard had been transferred through at least five Russian detention centres before his trial.
His lawyer said the legal team learned in April 2025 that Hubbard was being held at a facility in the Mordovia region, east of Moscow. His release marks the end of his detention in Russia, although the circumstances surrounding his capture and the conflicting accounts of his alleged military involvement remain important parts of the case.
