Stephen Hubbard, a US citizen detained by the Kremlin in 2022, was released from a Russian prison on Wednesday shortly after US envoy Steve Witkoff landed in Russia.
During Witkoff’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin chief announced that Hubbard was at Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg.
Witkoff thanked Putin for releasing Hubbard, and told him that "because of you, he’s going home to his family.”
Putin claimed that he released the Michigan native, 74, “for humanitarian reasons.”
“Never once did we waver as we prayed for success in these negotiations, and we must acknowledge that this humanitarian move by President Putin in this matter is deeply appreciated,” Hubbard's son, John Coleman, said in a statement.
US President Donald Trump noted that there was no "swap" necessary for the release. However, the administration recently waived a round of sanctions against the Kremlin. Trump claimed that had he not waived the sanctions, "certainly those negotiations would have come to a complete and total halt.”
The administration also recently announced a deal to import Russian diesel fuel, going against years of US foreign policy against Moscow.
Stephen Hubbard released from Russian prison
Hubbard was detained in Ukraine four years ago. Russia alleged in a closed trial in 2024 that he was fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine in the war. Prosecutors claimed that Hubbard signed a contract with the Ukrainian military at the start of the invasion, and that he was captured by Russian troops two months later.
His family and lawyer have denied the claims.
His sister, Patricia Hubbard Fox, has argued that Hubbard’s age made it unlikely that he would take up arms against Russian troops. Hubbard’s lawyer said that Russian troops entered his home and took him away.
The State Department maintained that Hubbard had been wrongfully detained since his sentencing in 2024. Officials also said that Russia refused to grant US officials consular access to Hubbard.
Ahead of Witkoff’s visit, a US official said that the envoy’s meeting with Putin is “expected to include efforts to seek the release of wrongfully detained American citizen Hubbard, reflecting President Trump’s continued commitment to bringing Americans home,” as per CNN.