Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old American citizen, has been released by Russia after being sentenced to nearly seven years in prison on charges of fighting alongside Ukraine. The news was made public during a meeting in St. Petersburg between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Putin said at Wednesday’s meeting that Hubbard had been taken to Pulkovo Airport, from where he was expected to travel to the United States.
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U.S. President Donald Trump later confirmed the release, saying that the 74-year-old was “on his way home.” According to Trump, no prisoner exchange was required.
In a social media post, Trump said the release had been secured following a request he himself made to Putin last week.
Hubbard, a former teacher originally from Michigan, was sentenced in 2024 to nearly seven years in a Russian penal colony. Russian authorities claimed that he had served in a defense unit in the Ukrainian city of Izium and that he had been captured by Russian forces shortly after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The U.S. State Department had previously determined that Hubbard was wrongfully detained. CBS News reported that he had health problems and was expected to be sent to Texas for medical treatment.
During the meeting in St. Petersburg, Witkoff thanked Putin for Hubbard’s release and described the Russian president as a humanitarian.
The U.S. envoy also asked Putin to consider resuming trilateral peace talks with Ukraine, as the war has lasted more than four years.
The meeting took place a day after Witkoff held talks in Oslo, Norway, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. A U.S. official described those talks as constructive.
Russia’s state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported that the results of the Oslo talks were also discussed at the meeting in St. Petersburg. According to the agency, Witkoff had documents with him outlining possible approaches to the peace process.
The participants also discussed the situation in Iran, the possibility of holding a meeting in China, and economic cooperation between the United States and Russia.
Witkoff also thanked Putin for the agreement reached at the beginning of this month to import Russian diesel into the United States. He said Trump was grateful for the cooperation.
Russia’s state-run TASS news agency quoted Putin as saying that the first shipment of diesel under the agreement would leave Russia within two to three days.
The agreement has sparked dissatisfaction in Kyiv and has been accompanied by strained relations between the Trump administration and Ukraine. Washington has suspended some sanctions against Moscow, while Trump has also criticized Ukraine’s attacks on Russian energy infrastructure.
Ukraine, for its part, had accused the United States of cutting off the exchange of intelligence data on deadly Russian attacks. Washington has denied the claim. On Tuesday, Zelensky announced that the exchange of intelligence had resumed.
As the talks were taking place in St. Petersburg, the Ukrainian president wrote on social media that much would depend on the American side’s willingness to hear new proposals for peace from Russia, rather than proposals for continuing the war.
