KEY POINTS:
- Russia released Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired teacher from Michigan, on Oct. 21 while U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff was in St. Petersburg for talks with President Vladimir Putin, CBS News and The Associated Press reported.
- A Moscow court convicted Hubbard of mercenary activity for Ukraine after a closed trial in October 2024. His lawyer says Hubbard called the charges false, and Washington designated him wrongfully detained, according to Reuters reporting published by The Moscow Times.
- President Donald Trump wrote that “There was no ‘swap’ necessary for this release,” then told reporters hours later that Hubbard would not be coming back had he imposed new sanctions on Russia, CBS News reported.
- Witkoff told Putin, “You are a humanitarian also, sir,” drawing criticism from senators in both parties, Al Jazeera and ABC News reported.
- Putin agreed to resume U.S.-mediated trilateral peace talks with Ukraine, which the Kremlin said could be held in Abu Dhabi, Al Jazeera reported.
Russia freed American Stephen Hubbard on Wednesday after more than four years in custody, completing the release while Witkoff was visiting Russia, The Associated Press reported Oct. 21.
The release
Putin announced the release during his meeting with Witkoff in St. Petersburg, telling the envoy that Hubbard was already preparing to board a flight to the United States, The Moscow Times reported Oct. 21. Russian state news agencies, citing Putin, said Hubbard was at the city’s Pulkovo Airport, CBS News reported. Jared Kushner joined the meeting virtually, Al Jazeera reported.
“Because of you, he’s going home to his family,” Witkoff told Putin, according to CBS News, ABC News and AP.
PBS NewsHour aired video of the envoy greeting Hubbard. “We just left President Putin. He sends you blessings and wishes you good things,” Witkoff said. “OK. Really? He does?” Hubbard replied, according to the PBS NewsHour transcript.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian media that the American side had raised Hubbard’s case for some time and that Putin freed him out of “humanitarian considerations,” AP reported.
CBS News reported that Hubbard is in poor health and was expected to be flown to Texas for treatment at a military hospital. A U.S. official told PBS NewsHour he was in “OK condition.” NBC News reported that the jet carrying Hubbard landed at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, according to search results. Reuters reported Oct. 22, in a report published by The Moscow Times, that Hubbard had arrived back in the United States.
Hubbard’s sister, Patricia Hubbard Fox, told ABC News she learned of the release from the media and thanked Trump “for being the hand of God and bringing Stephen Hubbard home.”
The ‘no swap’ claim
In a Truth Social post, Trump said Hubbard was freed at his request, “made directly to President Vladimir Putin in a telephone conversation last week,” CBS News reported. Trump wrote that the U.S. “was not required to give anything in return,” adding, “There was no ‘swap’ necessary for this release,” according to CBS. Witkoff wrote on X that the release “was not part of an exchange,” ABC News reported.
Later Wednesday, Trump linked the release to his decision to waive new sanctions on Russia, CBS News reported. “If I would have done that, you would not have Mr. Hubbard coming back,” Trump told reporters on the White House South Lawn, according to CBS. In a second post, Trump wrote that if sanctions had been imposed, “certainly those negotiations would have come to a complete and total halt,” CBS and ABC reported.
CBS reported that the release came five days after Trump announced he would waive some Russia sanctions just before they took effect, a decision criticized by members of Congress, including some Republicans.
The case against Hubbard
Hubbard grew up in Big Rapids, Michigan, served in the U.S. Air Force and National Guard, and moved in 2014 to Izium in eastern Ukraine, according to Reuters reporting published by The Moscow Times on Oct. 22. Russian state media said he was detained in April 2022 and alleged he had been manning a Ukrainian military checkpoint, an account Reuters said it could not independently establish.
A Moscow court convicted Hubbard after a closed trial in October 2024 and sentenced him to six years and 10 months, Reuters reported. Prosecutors said he joined a Ukrainian territorial defense unit and was promised $1,000 a month, and Russian state media said he pleaded guilty, according to Reuters. His lawyer, Martin De Luca, told Reuters in June 2025 that Hubbard said the charges were false, that he was not in any combat or military unit, and that Russian soldiers took him from his house. Washington designated Hubbard wrongfully detained in January 2025, Reuters reported.
Hubbard was the last American in Russia whom the State Department had formally declared wrongfully detained, and as many as 10 other Americans remain in Russian custody, CBS News reported. Eric Lebson of Global Reach, which represents five Americans held in Russia, said in a statement reported by AP that their families “are going to have a hard time understanding why their loved one was not included in the deal.”
‘A humanitarian’
“You talk so much about my president, President Trump, being a humanitarian. You are a humanitarian also, sir,” Witkoff told Putin, AP reported. Al Jazeera reported that he added, “I salute that. I commend you.”
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis called the remark “embarrassing and outrageous,” and Republican Sen. John Cornyn wrote, “Putin is stone cold killer,” Al Jazeera reported. Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly called Putin a “war criminal,” the outlet reported.
“I agree with Steve Witkoff saying something nice to a person who just released an American hostage,” Vice President JD Vance told reporters, ABC News reported. Asked about Witkoff’s comment, Trump said, “I guess you could say for that particular purpose,” but added, “I wouldn’t say anything one way or the other,” according to ABC.
The talks
Putin agreed to resume U.S.-mediated peace negotiations with Ukraine for the first time in months, Al Jazeera reported. Citing Reuters, Al Jazeera reported that the Kremlin said the talks could take place in Abu Dhabi and could start as soon as next month. CNN reported that Putin said he would be willing to resume talks after Nov. 10, according to search results.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said the outcomes of Witkoff’s earlier talks in Oslo, Norway, “do not entirely satisfy us,” The Moscow Times reported.
“It’s important to negotiate trilaterally,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, according to PBS NewsHour. The same day, a drone struck apartments in Kyiv, killing two people, PBS NewsHour reported.
This is a developing story. Information may be incomplete and will be updated as more details become available.
