Russia frees American Stephen Hubbard from prison

Russia on Wednesday released Stephen Hubbard, a U.S. citizen jailed for more than four years on charges of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine. Hubbard, 74, was released after a telephone conversation between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a social media post from Trump. The U.S. president added that no prisoner swap was involved in the release.

Does this explain Trump’s decision last week to waive sanctions against Russia? In a follow-up social media post, Trump said that people who had requested Russian sanctions have called to apologize to him because they did not know he was negotiating Hubbard’s release. If sanctions had been imposed, the negotiations would have come to a stop, Trump said.

How did Hubbard end up in a Russian jail? Hubbard was sentenced in 2024 to nearly seven years in prison during closed court proceedings after already serving two years behind bars. Prosecutors claimed he had signed a contract with the Ukrainian military after Russia’s 2022 invasion and fought alongside Kyiv’s forces until being captured two months later.

The U.S. government under the Biden administration had designated Hubbard as wrongfully detained. At the time of Hubbard’s sentencing, U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller expressed disappointment over the verdict against him. Hubbard’s legal team also disputed the Russian allegation, saying he was not involved in any military activity.

Dig deeper: Read Josh Schumacher’s 2024 report on Stephen Hubbard’s case.