“Stephen Hubbard, an American who had been imprisoned in Russia for more than four years on charges of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine, has returned to the United States after he was freed by Moscow following a direct plea from President Donald Trump. Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired teacher, was captured in occupied eastern Ukraine”, — write on: www.cnn.com
Stephen Hubbard, an American who had been imprisoned in Russia for more than four years on charges of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine, has returned to the United States after he was freed by Moscow following a direct plea from President Donald Trump.
Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired teacher, was captured in occupied eastern Ukraine during Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 and accused of fighting for Kyiv in what his family and the State Department said were fabricated charges.
Hubbard is now at a military facility in San Antonio, Texas, where he will participate in a program to support his reacclimation after his detention in Russia, a US official told CNN on Thursday.
His release in Russia was announced as US special envoy Steve Witkoff met President Vladimir Putin for talks aimed at advancing peace efforts in Ukraine.
Witkoff thanked Putin for Hubbard’s release, calling Russia’s president – who is subject to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant and has clamped down on opposition at home – a “humanitarian.”