Russia freed Stephen Hubbard, a retired US schoolteacher in custody since 2022, from prison on Wednesday and took him to St Petersburg to fly back to the United States, after talks that Washington said were a step toward ending the war in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin made the announcement at a meeting in St Petersburg with US envoy Steve Witkoff, who later said the talks will continue toward planned technical-level discussions involving the US, Russia and Ukraine.
Witkoff called Putin a "humanitarian" in thanking him for the move, a remark that drew sharp rebuke from Republican and Democratic lawmakers given Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Deep Dive
Why did Russia release Stephen Hubbard?
Why was Stephen Hubbard imprisoned in Russia?
Was Stephen Hubbard released in a prisoner swap?
The prisoner release comes as President Donald Trump's recent gestures toward Moscow, including a deal to buy Russian diesel and a waiver of new sanctions, have already sparked bipartisan pushback in the US Congress and worry in European capitals.
Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Putin had freed Hubbard, 74, at Trump's request, and that he had also taken into account the American's poor health. Trump later confirmed he had asked Putin on a call in recent days, and Putin agreed.
"The president sends his thanks, our whole nation sends their thanks, because of Stephen Hubbard," Witkoff told Putin in the meeting shown on Russian state TV. "Because of you he's going home to his family."
{{/usCountry}}"The president sends his thanks, our whole nation sends their thanks, because of Stephen Hubbard," Witkoff told Putin in the meeting shown on Russian state TV. "Because of you he's going home to his family."
{{/usCountry}}In a video shared with Reuters, Hubbard, wearing a dark fleece and clean-shaven, is seen in an undisclosed location in Russia shaking Witkoff's hand and thanking him. Later, Trump posted a picture of Hubbard appearing inside a plane with others and holding an American flag.
Hubbard's son, Joseph Coleman, told Reuters in a voice message that he spoke briefly by phone with his father before he boarded the airplane in Russia.
"Today he seemed light in his step, a sense of happiness in his voice", Coleman said.
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THREE-WAY MEETING PLANNED ON WAR
Witkoff called the talks with Putin "constructive" and said in a post on X that he had also met Ukrainian and European leaders in Oslo to advance Trump's mission to end the war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he supported the US proposal for three-way talks with Russia and the United States at the level of negotiators to be held as soon as possible, preferably by early November.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere, who also met Witkoff, had earlier said the talks will likely happen in mid-November and focus on a potential post-conflict security structure.
On Wednesday evening, officials in Kyiv said Russian forces attacked the capital city with ballistic missiles that damaged homes and a petrol station and caused injuries.
'HUMANITARIAN'
Witkoff's praise for Putin over Hubbard's release was scorned by some in Washington. "Look up the definition of 'humanitarian.' What an embarrassing and outrageous thing to say," Republican US Senator Thom Tillis said in an X post directed at the US envoy.
Trump, asked about Witkoff's "humanitarian" comment, told reporters at the White House: “Well, I guess you have to say for that particular purpose, for the purpose of allowing a man, who was thinking he was going to be in prison for life, out. But I wouldn't say anything one way or the other."
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The US "gave nothing in exchange" for the prisoner release, Trump said, adding "we're getting closer" to settling the war.
"He is the happiest man around," Trump said of Hubbard. "This was very surprising to him, but I did it, it really took place on a phone call at the end of last week with President Putin, so we appreciate it very much. And his family is extremely happy."
FAMILY, LAWYER DISPUTED CONVICTION
Hubbard, a native of Michigan, had been serving a prison sentence of six years and 10 months in Russia following a conviction for mercenary activity in 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 Hubbard had joined a Ukrainian territorial defence unit, received training, weapons and ammunition, and was promised $1,000 a month.
Russian state media reported he pleaded guilty to the charges. But Hubbard's US-based lawyer, Martin De Luca, previously told Reuters that 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 with Reuters, Hubbard's sister, Patricia Hubbard Fox, also disputed the idea that her brother took up arms for any government, calling him "so non-military" and pointing out his advanced age.
De Luca on Wednesday thanked Trump, Witkoff and other US officials for securing the release, calling it "a dividend earned along the hard road to peace".
As of Wednesday, Hubbard was the only US prisoner held by Russia who was designated by Washington as "wrongfully detained".
The Trump administration secured the release last year of another American jailed in Russia, schoolteacher Marc Fogel, who had been serving a 14-year prison term for drug smuggling.