Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the release of US citizen Stephen Hubbard during talks with US special envoy Steve Witkoff in St. Petersburg on October 21, saying Hubbard had been taken to Pulkovo Airport. BBC News reported that Russian state media carried Putin’s statement.
Hubbard, a 74-year-old former teacher from Michigan, was sentenced in Russia in 2024 to almost seven years in a penal colony. Russian prosecutors accused him of serving in a Ukrainian defence unit in Izyum after Russia’s full-scale invasion; Deutsche Welle reported that Hubbard denied being a mercenary.
The US State Department had previously classified Hubbard as wrongfully detained, according to the BBC. US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he had raised Hubbard’s case with Putin.
The announcement came during the ninth in-person meeting between Witkoff and Putin, according to DW. Witkoff told Putin he had brought ideas concerning a possible Russia-Ukraine peace deal. The meeting followed Witkoff’s discussions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders in Norway, while Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow was willing to listen but did not expect a miracle, DW reported.
Putin’s statement establishes that Russia announced a release and that Hubbard was reported to be at the airport. The reports do not independently establish his transfer to the United States or his arrival there. The BBC also reported that Hubbard was in poor health and was expected to fly to Texas for treatment, citing its US media partner CBS News.