Russia frees a 74-year-old American teacher who was jailed on Ukraine mercenary charges after Trump appealed directly to Putin

US envoy Steve Witkoff hailed Vladimir Putin as a 'humanitarian' in St Petersburg after the Kremlin freed Stephen Hubbard. Putin said the retired Michigan teacher was waiting at Pulkovo Airport to fly home with Witkoff. Hubbard had been held since April 2022 and was jailed in 2024 for nearly seven years. Washington called the charges fabricated.

Hubbard was Washington's only Russian-held prisoner officially designated 'wrongfully detained'.

His sister Patricia Fox said his sympathies lay with Russia and that he was the last person likely to fight against it.

Russia freed him unilaterally, with no prisoner swap, on the eve of fresh Ukraine peace talks.