TL;DR
Vladimir Putin said U.S. citizen Steven Hubbard had been released and was at Pulkovo Airport, during a meeting with President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff. Hubbard was sentenced in Russia to six years and 10 months for mercenary activity, a charge disputed by his relatives and lawyer. Details of his release and his onward travel were not provided in the report.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said U.S. citizen Steven Hubbard had been released from custody and was at Pulkovo Airport, announcing the development at the start of a meeting with Steve Witkoff, U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy. Hubbard had been serving a sentence in Russia after a court convicted him of mercenary activity, a charge his relatives and lawyer disputed.
Putin’s statement was reported by The Bell, which said the Russian president made the announcement as he began his meeting with Witkoff. The report did not specify the precise time Hubbard was released, whether he had left the airport, or where he was expected to travel next. It also did not provide details of any agreement or procedure that led to his release.
Trump had publicly raised Hubbard’s case with Putin the day before, according to the report. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said: “I spoke with President Putin about Mr. Hubbard.” He added that they had discussed the matter at length and that he had asked Putin to release him. The report does not establish whether Trump’s request was the reason for the release.
Hubbard, a Michigan native and U.S. retiree, moved to Ukraine in 2014. Russian soldiers detained him in April 2022, after the full-scale war began, according to the source report. In October 2024, the Moscow City Court sentenced the then-72-year-old to six years and 10 months in a general-regime penal colony after convicting him of mercenary activity in a closed-door trial.
A Wrongful-Detention Case Reaches Release
Hubbard’s release ends, at least according to Putin’s announcement, a period of detention that the U.S. State Department formally designated wrongful in January 2025. That designation put the case among those Washington said involved an American detained unjustly abroad. The report said U.S. authorities had also been denied consular access to Hubbard, limiting the ability of American diplomats to visit him in custody.
The timing gives the announcement added diplomatic importance: it came as Putin met Witkoff, following Trump’s public statement that he had asked the Russian leader to release Hubbard. The sequence is confirmed in the report, but it does not by itself show that the meeting or Trump’s request secured the release. No terms, negotiations or reciprocal steps were described.
For Hubbard and his family, release would remove the immediate threat of continued imprisonment under the sentence. For U.S. officials, it addresses a case involving both a disputed conviction and restricted consular access. The public account remains limited, however: Putin’s announcement confirms what he said had happened, but the report did not include an independent account from Hubbard or U.S. confirmation of his status after the announcement.
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From Detention to Russian Conviction
Russian investigators alleged that Hubbard signed a contract with a territorial defense battalion in Izium, which they said was under Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, received training and was paid $1,000 a month. Those details are allegations attributed to investigators in the source report; they should not be treated as independently established facts.
Russian state media said Hubbard pleaded guilty. His relatives and lawyer disputed the charge, and his lawyer said Hubbard had not taken part in combat and was detained by Russian soldiers at his home. The report did not explain how the conflicting accounts were addressed in court. The trial was held behind closed doors, and the sentence was handed down in October 2024.
The U.S. State Department’s January 2025 wrongful-detention designation marked a formal change in Washington’s public position on the case. The report said U.S. authorities had been denied consular access, but it did not identify when access was requested or provide further details about the exchanges between the two governments.
“Putin said Hubbard had been released and was already at Pulkovo Airport.”
— Vladimir Putin, as reported by The Bell
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Release Details Still Unconfirmed
The report does not specify when Hubbard was released, whether he was still at Pulkovo Airport when the news was published, or where he would go. It also does not state whether he had reached U.S. officials, family members or medical care. Putin’s statement is the reported basis for the release news; the source did not include a separate confirmation from Hubbard or the U.S. government.
The circumstances of the release are also unclear. No exchange, legal order, diplomatic arrangement or other condition was reported. The release does not settle the underlying dispute over the conviction: Russian investigators’ allegations, Russian state media’s claim about a guilty plea, and the account from Hubbard’s lawyer remain distinct and conflicting accounts in the available material.
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Confirmation and Travel Status
The next immediate developments are likely to be confirmation from U.S. officials or Hubbard himself, along with an update on whether he has left Pulkovo Airport and where he is headed. The source report provides no schedule for such statements, so their timing is unknown.
Further information may also clarify how the release was carried out and whether any conditions were attached. Until those details are reported, the confirmed development is limited to Putin’s announcement that Hubbard had been freed and was at the airport. The status of Hubbard’s conviction and the competing accounts of his detention have not been resolved by the release announcement.
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Key Questions
Who is Steven Hubbard?
Hubbard is a U.S. citizen from Michigan and a retiree who moved to Ukraine in 2014, according to The Bell’s report.
What did Putin say about Hubbard?
Putin said Hubbard had been released and was at Pulkovo Airport. The report did not include a separate confirmation from Hubbard or U.S. officials.
Why was Hubbard imprisoned in Russia?
The Moscow City Court convicted Hubbard of mercenary activity in October 2024 and sentenced him to six years and 10 months in a penal colony. His relatives and lawyer disputed the charges; his lawyer said he had not fought and was detained at home.
Did Trump request Hubbard’s release?
Yes. Trump said he had spoken with Putin about Hubbard and asked him to release him. The report does not establish whether that request caused the release.
What is still unknown about the release?
The report does not give the exact release time, Hubbard’s destination, the arrangements behind his release or whether he has since been contacted by U.S. officials or family.
Source: rss
