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

Russia freed Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired US schoolteacher in its custody since 2022, from prison on Wednesday and took him to St Petersburg's Pulkovo airport to fly back to the United States.

Russian President Vladimir Putin made the ‌announcement at a meeting with US envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg. His 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. He shook Witkoff's hand and said: "Thank you very much for all your efforts." Hubbard's son, Joseph Coleman, told Reuters in a voice message that he spoke briefly by phone with his father before he boarded the airplane in Russia.

"Today he seemed light in his step, a sense of happiness in his voice", Coleman said. 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," Trump wrote. FAMILY, ⁠LAWYER DISPUTED CONVICTION

Hubbard, a native of 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 Hubbard Fox, 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.