October 21 – A 74-year-old American who spent more than four years in Russian custody after being accused of fighting for Ukraine has been released, with U.S. President Donald Trump saying Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to free him following a direct request from the White House.
Stephen Hubbard, a retired teacher from Michigan, was released on Wednesday, according to U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, who confirmed the development during a meeting with Putin in St. Petersburg. Trump said the release was secured without a prisoner exchange, describing the outcome as a diplomatic achievement for his administration.
The announcement came as senior Trump administration officials traveled to Russia for discussions with Putin and other senior Russian officials. Although the talks focused primarily on the war in Ukraine, Hubbard’s release emerged as a significant development during the diplomatic engagement.
Russian state news agencies, citing Putin, reported that Hubbard was at Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg following his release. The American, whose detention had been formally classified by the U.S. government as wrongful, was expected to travel to Texas for medical treatment at a military hospital because of his deteriorating health.
Trump Credits Direct Appeal to Putin for Hubbard’s Release
Trump announced Hubbard’s release in a post on his Truth Social platform early Wednesday, saying he had personally raised the case with Putin during a telephone conversation the previous week.
According to Trump, the Russian president agreed to release Hubbard at his request and did not demand anything in return. The president emphasized that no prisoner swap was necessary, presenting the decision as an unusual outcome in relations between Washington and Moscow, where negotiations over detained Americans have frequently involved exchanges of prisoners.
Trump said Russia acted out of respect for him and his administration. His comments suggested that direct communication between the two leaders had played an important role in securing Hubbard’s freedom.
Witkoff also acknowledged the release during his meeting with Putin, thanking the Russian president on behalf of Trump and the American public. Video of the encounter showed the U.S. envoy expressing gratitude for the decision and saying Hubbard would be returning to his family.
Witkoff went further by praising Putin personally, describing the Russian leader as a humanitarian while commending him for allowing Hubbard to go home. His remarks came despite the continuing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which has severely strained relations between Moscow and Washington.
Hubbard’s release was particularly significant because he was the last American in Russia whom the U.S. State Department had formally designated as wrongfully detained. However, his departure does not mean that all Americans held in Russia have been freed. As many as 10 other U.S. citizens, including people with dual nationality, were still in Russian custody.
The circumstances surrounding Hubbard’s release also raised questions about the role of broader diplomatic negotiations and recent U.S. decisions concerning Russia.
Five days before the announcement, Trump said his administration would waive certain sanctions against Russia shortly before they were due to take effect. The decision drew criticism from members of Congress, including some Republicans, while Putin publicly welcomed the easing of restrictions.
In a second Truth Social post, Trump directly connected the sanctions decision to Hubbard’s release. He said people who had criticized his administration for delaying the sanctions had contacted him to apologize after learning that he had been negotiating with Putin.
Trump argued that imposing the sanctions as originally planned would have brought the negotiations to a complete halt. He described Hubbard’s release as an important outcome for the United States and used the development to defend his administration’s approach to dealing with Russia.
The White House’s handling of the sanctions therefore became part of the political debate surrounding the release. While Trump presented the decision as necessary to secure Hubbard’s freedom, the timing of the two developments is likely to draw further scrutiny from lawmakers who have questioned whether easing pressure on Moscow is an effective way to advance American interests.
Hubbard’s release followed several other cases in which the Trump administration sought the return of Americans held in Russia. Those cases have involved different circumstances, ranging from humanitarian appeals to complex international prisoner exchanges.
Hubbard, a retired schoolteacher who had served in the U.S. National Guard and Air Force, was captured in Ukraine shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Russian authorities accused him of serving as a mercenary and manning a checkpoint for fighters supporting Ukraine.
He was sentenced in 2024 to nearly seven years in a penal colony. His family consistently maintained that he was innocent and sought his release, although relatives had limited contact with him during his imprisonment.
The length of Hubbard’s detention and concerns about his physical condition added urgency to efforts to bring him home. His expected transfer to a military hospital in Texas was intended to allow him to receive medical care following his release.
His case also highlights the risks faced by Americans who remain in Russia amid deteriorating relations between the two countries. The U.S. State Department continues to maintain its highest-level travel warning for Russia, advising American citizens not to travel there because of the risks of wrongful detention, arbitrary enforcement of local laws and limited access to U.S. consular assistance.
The department has also developed measures intended to respond to governments that detain Americans unlawfully or use them as leverage in international disputes. The Trump administration established a designation for countries considered state sponsors of wrongful detention, giving U.S. authorities additional options involving sanctions, export controls and travel restrictions.
Iran and Afghanistan have received that designation, but Russia has not, despite a long history of detaining Americans on charges that Washington has challenged in several cases.
Other American citizens remain caught up in the dispute over detentions. One such case involves Aleksandr Antonov, who was arrested in Russia last year and sentenced to six years in prison. His family has argued that his American citizenship contributed to his detention and has urged the State Department to prioritize his case.
The department has faced internal debate over whether Antonov should receive the formal designation of wrongfully detained, reflecting the difficult judgments involved in determining which cases qualify for additional diplomatic intervention.
Hubbard’s release also follows the return of Robert Gilman, a former U.S. Marine who was freed from Russian custody in August after his health reportedly deteriorated to a life-threatening condition. Gilman, who had spent more than four years in prison, received a humanitarian pardon after Trump appealed directly to Putin.
Earlier releases include American schoolteacher Marc Fogel, who returned home last year, and journalist Evan Gershkovich and former Marine Paul Whelan, who were freed in 2024 as part of a major multinational prisoner exchange.
Those cases illustrate the different approaches used to secure the release of detained Americans. Some have returned through negotiated exchanges involving several countries, while others have been freed following direct appeals or humanitarian arrangements.
Trump’s assertion that Hubbard’s release required no exchange sets the latest case apart from the 2024 agreement, which involved multiple prisoners and governments. However, the precise terms of the arrangement and the extent to which other diplomatic discussions influenced the outcome were not fully detailed in the announcement.
For Hubbard and his family, the immediate priority is his safe return and access to medical treatment after years in custody. For Washington, the development offers a diplomatic success while leaving unresolved questions about other Americans still detained in Russia and the broader relationship between negotiations, sanctions and the treatment of U.S. citizens abroad.