Russia frees retired US schoolteacher Stephen Hubbard

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

Mr Putin made the announcement at a meeting with US envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg, without giving more details.

"The president sends his thanks, our whole nation sends their thanks, because of Stephen Hubbard," Mr Witkoff told Mr Putin in a televised meeting. "Because of you he's going home to his family."

Martin De Luca, Mr Hubbard's US-based ‌lawyer, thanked President Donald Trump, Mr Witkoff ⁠and other US officials for securing Mr Hubbard's release in a statement, calling it "a dividend earned along the hard road to peace".

Mr Trump confirmed the release in a Truth Social post, saying the US was not required to give anything in return.

Mr Hubbard, from Michigan, had been serving a prison sentence of six years ‌and 10 months in Russia following a conviction for mercenary activity at 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 Mr Hubbard had joined a Ukrainian territorial defence unit, received ⁠training, weapons ‌and ammunition, and was promised $1,000 (€890) a month.

Russian state media reported he pleaded guilty to the charges. But Mr De Luca previously said Mr 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, Mr 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 today, Mr Hubbard was the only US prisoner held by Russia who was designated by Washington as "wrongfully detained".