Russia releases American Stephen Hubbard after four years in prison

Hubbard was jailed after Russia said he fought alongside Ukrainian forces against Russia.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev attend a meeting with Stephen Hubbard, recently freed after serving a prison sentence in Russia [Handout via Reuters]

American Stephen Hubbard has been freed from a Russian prison and is on his way home after United States President Donald Trump said his administration had secured his release.

“Stephen is on his way back home and will soon be with his family,” Trump wrote in a social media post on Wednesday, adding that the US was not required to give anything in return for the release of the 74-year-old former teacher from Michigan.

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The deal came during a visit to Russia by a top US envoy, and just days after Trump took a series of actions seen as beneficial to Moscow.

Hubbard, whose family says had been living in Ukraine since before Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, was tried and convicted in a closed-door trial, with Russian prosecutors saying he had signed a contract with the Ukrainian military and had fought alongside its forces before being captured. He was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2024.

The US had declared Hubbard a wrongfully detained American.

Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, who is in Russia for talks with President Vladimir Putin on the Ukraine war, told him that “our whole nation sends their thanks” and that Putin was a “humanitarian” for allowing Hubbard to walk free. Witkoff briefly met with Hubbard in St. Petersburg after his release, telling him, “from today is a new life for you”.

The release came at a dynamic moment in relations between the US, Ukraine and Russia, with the Washington-Kyiv relationship under strain at the same time that the Trump administration has pursued policies which Ukraine says have rewarded Putin.

Those include Trump’s decision last week to waive sanctions on Russia imposed by a bill that the US Congress overwhelmingly passed to support Ukraine.

Named after the late South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, the legislation targeted the flow of financial resources fuelling Moscow’s war on Ukraine.

That reversal followed Trump’s announcement of a deal to import Russian diesel fuel in an effort to curb high gas prices before next month’s US midterm elections.

俄罗斯方面称哈伯德曾与乌克兰军队并肩作战对抗俄罗斯，之后哈伯德被投入监狱。

美国特使史蒂夫·威特科夫和俄罗斯总统特使基里尔·德米特里耶夫会见了最近在俄罗斯服刑期满后获释的斯蒂芬·哈伯德。[路透社供图]

美国公民斯蒂芬·哈伯德已从俄罗斯监狱获释，正在返回家园的路上。此前，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普表示，他的政府已确保哈伯德获释。

“斯蒂芬正在回家的路上，很快就会和家人团聚，”特朗普周三在社交媒体上发帖写道，并补充说，美国无需为这位来自密歇根州的74岁前教师的获释付出任何代价。

列表 1/3：俄罗斯在囚犯交换中释放美国篮球明星布里特妮·格里纳

格里纳获释引发了人们对保罗·惠兰命运的新担忧（共3条，此为第2条）

列表 3/3：俄罗斯释放前美国海军陆战队员罗伯特·吉尔曼

这项协议是在美国高级特使访问俄罗斯期间达成的，而就在几天前，特朗普采取了一系列被认为对莫斯科有利的行动。

哈伯德的家人称，他早在2022年俄罗斯全面入侵乌克兰之前就居住在乌克兰。哈伯德在一次闭门审判中被定罪，俄罗斯检方称他曾与乌克兰军方签订合同，并在被俘前与乌克兰军队并肩作战。他于2024年被判处七年监禁。

美国已宣布哈伯德是被错误拘留的美国公民。

特朗普的特使史蒂夫·威特科夫正在俄罗斯与普京总统就乌克兰战争进行会谈。他告诉普京，“我们全国人民都表示感谢”，并称赞普京释放哈伯德是“人道主义者”。哈伯德获释后，威特科夫在圣彼得堡与他短暂会面，并告诉他，“从今天起，你的人生将焕然一新”。

此次发布正值美国、乌克兰和俄罗斯关系处于动态变化之际，华盛顿与基辅的关系紧张，与此同时，特朗普政府推行的政策被乌克兰方面认为是在奖励普京。

其中包括特朗普上周决定豁免美国国会以压倒性多数通过的、旨在支持乌克兰的法案对俄罗斯实施的制裁。

该法案以已故南卡罗来纳州共和党参议员林赛·格雷厄姆的名字命名，旨在遏制为莫斯科对乌克兰发动战争提供资金支持的财政资源流动。

这一转变发生在特朗普宣布达成一项进口俄罗斯柴油燃料的协议之后，此举旨在下个月美国中期选举前遏制高油价。