Russian President Vladimir Putin says Russia has agreed to release Stephen Hubbard, an American citizen jailed for allegedly fighting on behalf of Ukraine, state media reported. Putin said Hubbard had been taken to Pulkovo Airport during talks with US envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg.
The report said the story was still being updated and that further details would be published shortly.
Hubbard’s sentence and capture details
Hubbard, originally from Michigan, was 72 when he was sentenced in 2024 to almost seven years in a penal colony. Putin’s statement concerned the release of Hubbard, who had been held in that colony.
Prosecutors said he had been serving in a defence unit based in the eastern city of Izyum when Russian forces captured him two years prior. These were the prosecutors’ claims made in the case against him.
