Stephen Hubbard was released from Russian custody on October 21 after more than four years of detention, with President Donald Trump saying the 74-year-old Michigan native was on his way back to the United States.
The retired teacher’s release was announced as U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg. Reuters and The Associated Press reported the development, which followed Trump’s public comments a day earlier about efforts to bring Hubbard home.
Trump said he had asked Putin during a telephone conversation the previous week to free Hubbard. He also said no prisoner exchange was required. Those statements describe the president’s account of the negotiations, rather than a publicly released agreement setting out every term.
Stephen Hubbard heads home after years in custody
Russian forces captured Hubbard in the Ukrainian city of Izyum in April 2022, following Russia’s full-scale invasion. His detention began more than two years before the Russian court proceedings that resulted in his prison sentence.
In October 2024, a Moscow court sentenced him to six years and 10 months after a closed trial on mercenary charges. Russian prosecutors alleged that he had served with a Ukrainian territorial defense unit.
His family and lawyer disputed that account. The United States designated him wrongfully detained, a position that should be distinguished from the Russian court’s findings.
The release ends his imprisonment, but it should not be described as a judicial acquittal or the reversal of his conviction without a separate record establishing that action.
What Trump said about the release
Trump celebrated Stephen Hubbard’s freedom on Truth Social and criticized the Biden administration for not securing his return earlier. His criticism is a political assessment, not a documented finding about what a previous administration could have achieved.
The earlier administration had formally designated Hubbard wrongfully detained, according to AP and NPR reporting. That history provides context for the president’s criticism without resolving the separate question of why negotiations succeeded at this particular moment.
Trump also shared a photograph showing Hubbard inside an aircraft with others and an American flag, Reuters reported. The photograph accompanied the announcement of his return; it did not by itself establish when he would arrive in the United States.
Witkoff thanked Putin during their meeting. Russian officials presented the release as a response to Trump’s request, while the U.S. administration emphasized its efforts to secure the American’s freedom.
No prisoner swap does not settle every diplomatic question
Trump said the United States did not have to release anyone in exchange for Stephen Hubbard. That is a narrower claim than saying Washington made no policy decisions benefiting Moscow during the same period.
Five days before Hubbard’s release, Trump signed an order waiving sanctions and duties under the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026. The October 16 executive order states that the waivers were issued on national-interest grounds.
The order also specifies that certain sanctions imposed under earlier executive orders were unaffected. It would therefore be inaccurate to describe the action as the removal of all U.S. sanctions against Russia.
The waiver is a documented policy action. Its existence alone does not establish an agreed exchange for Hubbard, and no complete negotiating agreement was available in the materials reviewed for this report.
A personal release during wider talks on Ukraine
The Stephen Hubbard announcement came during another round of U.S.-Russian diplomacy over the war in Ukraine. His freedom is a concrete development for him and his family, distinct from whether the broader talks produce a settlement.
A prisoner’s release does not establish that the fighting has stopped, that Ukraine has accepted proposed terms or that the governments have reached a comprehensive peace agreement.
At the time of the announcement, Trump described Hubbard as traveling home. An exact arrival time, destination and completed family reunion should be reported only after those details are confirmed.
