Release announced during talks in St. Petersburg
President Trump confirmed Wednesday that Stephen Hubbard, an American held by Russian authorities for upwards of four years on allegations that he fought on Ukraine's side, has been freed. According to CBS News, the news surfaced while special envoy Steve Witkoff met President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg, where U.S. officials were holding discussions with senior Russians about the war in Ukraine.
Video of the meeting showed Witkoff thanking Putin directly. "Because of you, he's going home to his family," Witkoff said. He also told the Russian leader, "you are a humanitarian also, sir, and I salute that." Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine almost five years ago.
Russian state news agencies, citing Putin, reported that Hubbard was at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport. Witkoff and Trump both shared a photo on social media that showed Hubbard aboard a plane after his release.
What Trump said about how it happened
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said Hubbard was freed at his request, made to Putin in a phone call last week. He wrote that Russia acted "out of respect for President Trump" and that the United States gave up nothing in return. He stressed that there was "no 'swap' necessary."
In a later post, however, Trump connected the outcome to his sanctions decision. Five days before the release, he announced that his administration would waive some sanctions on Russia just before they were due to take effect. Putin praised that step, while members of Congress, including some Republicans, sharply criticized it.
Trump claimed that "numerous people" who had urged the sanctions to go ahead later called to apologize once they learned he was negotiating Hubbard's release. He said that had the penalties been imposed, the negotiations would have come to a "complete and total halt."
Who Hubbard is and why he was held
Hubbard is a 74-year-old Michigan native and a retired school teacher who served in the National Guard and the Air Force. According to CBS News, he was captured in Ukraine soon after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Russian authorities accused him of staffing a checkpoint for mercenaries, and in 2024 he was sentenced to almost seven years in a penal colony.
His family had little contact with him during his detention and has maintained that he is innocent. Given his fragile condition, plans called for him to travel to Texas and receive care at a military hospital.
The State Department had formally declared him wrongfully detained, and he was the last American in Russia with that status.
Other Americans and recent releases
As many as 10 other Americans, including dual nationals, remain in Russian custody, CBS News reported. Some have not received the wrongful-detention label. Aleksandr Antonov, arrested last year and sentenced to six years, is one example. His family says he was targeted because he is a U.S. citizen and has pressed the State Department to prioritize his case. CBS News reported earlier this year on an internal department debate over whether to designate him.
Hubbard's release follows that of Robert Gilman, a former Marine who was freed in August after his health worsened to a life-threatening state. He received a humanitarian pardon after Trump appealed directly to Putin. Marc Fogel, a school teacher, was released early last year, and in 2024 Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan were freed in a multi-country prisoner swap.
The State Department continues to warn Americans against all travel to Russia under a Level 4 "Do Not Travel" advisory, citing the risk of wrongful detention. The administration created a designation last year for "state sponsors of wrongful detention," which allows sanctions, export controls and travel restrictions. It has been applied to Iran and Afghanistan but not to Russia.
