Russia releases imprisoned U.S. citizen Stephen Hubbard following Trump's request

A screen set up at a hall of the Moscow City Court broadcasts the verdict in the trial of U.S. citizen Stephen Hubbard, accused of fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine, in Moscow on Oct. 7, 2024. Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP via Getty Images hide caption Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP via Getty Images MOSCOW and KYIV - Russian President Vladimir Putin says he has freed an American, Stephen Hubbard, 74, from a Russian prison following a request from President Trump. The announcement came as talks got underway between Putin and White House envoy Steve Witkoff in Russia's former imperial capital of Saint Petersburg focused on the latest U.S. efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Hubbard, a former school teacher native to Michigan, was detained by Russian forces in eastern Ukraine in 2022 and later sentenced — after a closed trial in 2024 — to nearly seven years in prison, for allegedly serving as a mercenary in the Ukrainian army. The U.S. formally designated him wrongfully detained under the Biden administration. And yet his case was front and center as the Kremlin leader hosted Witkoff for a meeting at Saint Petersburg's ornate Constantine Palace intended to focus on a new U.S. peace plan for Ukrai...