Russia frees American Stephen Hubbard after over 4 years behind bars

Russia on Wednesday freed an American who had been jailed for more than four years on charges of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine, in a deal completed during a visit by a top U.S. envoy and at a time when President Donald Trump has taken a series of actions meant to benefit Moscow.Trump said in a Truth Social post that he had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin during a phone call last week to free Stephen Hubbard, and that, unlike previous releases, the U.S. did not have to give up anyone in return.“Welcome home, Stephen, it’s great to have you back,” Trump said in the post.Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired teacher from Michigan, was on his way home following a visit to St.

envoy Steve Witkoff, who also held talks with Putin about Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as Trump pushes Kyiv to make a deal that stops the fighting.Hubbard was sentenced in 2024 to nearly seven years in prison during closed court proceedings. Prosecutors said he had signed a contract with the Ukrainian military after Russia's invasion in 2022, and that he fought alongside Kyiv's forces until being captured two months later.The U.S. government under the Biden administration designated Hubbard as wrongfully detained and his legal team has also disputed the Russian allegation, saying he was not involved in any military activity.US envoy calls Putin a ‘humanitarian’Witkoff, a key Trump administration figure who has tried without success to steer Russia and Ukraine toward a settlement to end a war that will hit the five-year mark in February 2027, thanked Putin for releasing Hubbard, telling him, “Because of you, he's going home to his family.”“You talk so much about my president, President Trump, being a humanitarian.

You are a humanitarian also, sir,” Witkoff said.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian media on Wednesday that Hubbard’s release was “raised by the American side for a certain time,” and Putin decided to free the man out of “humanitarian considerations.”Speaking to reporters after the talks, Putin aide Yuri Ushakov said the Kremlin leader had pardoned Hubbard, who upon his release was taken to the St. Petersburg airport, Pulkovo, for Witkoff to bring him home to the United States.Video showed Witkoff and Hubbard shaking hands, with the newly released American thanking the envoy. Witkoff introduced Putin’s envoy Kirill Dmitriev to Hubbard a…

The president and his administration continue to cozy up to Russia