Russia frees retired US schoolteacher Stephen Hubbard in goodwill gesture as Putin meets Witkoff

Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired US schoolteacher in Russian custody since 2022, was freed from prison on Wednesday and taken to St Petersburg's Pulkovo airport, President Vladimir Putin said.

The Kremlin chief made the announcement at ‌a meeting with US envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg, without giving more details. Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, later said Putin had freed Hubbard at the request of US President Donald Trump, and had also taken into account the American's poor health. "The president sends his thanks, our whole nation sends their thanks, because of Stephen ‌Hubbard," Witkoff told Putin in a meeting shown on state TV. "Because of you he's going home to his family."

A video shared with Reuters showed Witkoff ‌and Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev meeting Hubbard, who wore a dark fleece and was clean-shaven, in an undisclosed location. The former schoolteacher shook Witkoff's hand and said: "Thank you very much for all your efforts." In a statement, Hubbard's US-based lawyer, Martin De Luca, thanked Trump, Witkoff and other US officials for securing Hubbard's release, calling it "a dividend earned along the hard road to peace".

Trump confirmed the release ⁠in a ​Truth Social post, saying the US had not ⁠been required to give anything in return. "The United States, out of respect for President Trump, was not required to give anything in return - an unprecedented situation for Russia. There was no “swap” ⁠necessary for this release. This major return should have taken place long ago through the Biden Administration, which got nowhere in its negotiations with the Kremlin," the post said.

“Welcome home ​Stephen, it’s great to have you back,” stated Trump. FAMILY, LAWYER DISPUTED CONVICTION

Hubbard, from Michigan, had been serving a prison sentence of six years and ⁠10 months in Russia following a conviction for mercenary activity in a closed-door trial. He was arrested in April 2022 in the eastern Ukrainian city of Izyum, where Russian prosecutors alleged he had ⁠been ​manning a Ukrainian military checkpoint.

Prosecutors said Hubbard had joined a Ukrainian territorial defence unit, received training, weapons and ammunition, and was promised $1,000 a month. Russian state media reported he pleaded guilty to the charges. But De Luca previously told Reuters Hubbard had told him the charges against him were false and that he ⁠was not in any combat or military unit.

In a 2024 interview with Reuters, Hubbard's sister, Patricia Fox Hubbard, also disputed the idea that her brother ⁠took up arms for any government, calling him "so ⁠non-military" and pointing out his advanced age. As of Wednesday, Hubbard was the only US prisoner held by Russia who was designated by Washington as "wrongfully detained".

The Trump administration secured the release last year of another American jailed in Russia, schoolteacher Marc ‌Fogel, who had been serving ‌a 14-year prison term for drug smuggling.