The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, announced this Wednesday the release of the 72-year-old American citizen Stephen Hubbard, arrested in April 2022 and sentenced for acting as a mercenary in the Ukrainian forces in the early stages of the invasion.
During his meeting in Moscow with the special envoy of the United States, Steve Witkoff, Putin detailed that Hubbard has already been transferred to Pulkovo International Airport in St. Petersburg. "Thanks to you, he is going to return home, to his family," highlighted the American representative referring to the management of the case.
The president of the United States, Donald Trump, has publicly applauded the release of his compatriot, who is currently traveling on a plane heading to the North American country. "Stephen Hubbard and his family are coming home from Russia," he wrote on his social media, accompanying the message with an image of the American posing with several people inside the aircraft.
Trump emphasized that the release occurred without offering concessions to Moscow, something that, he stressed, constitutes "an unprecedented situation for Russia."
"No exchange was necessary for this release," insisted the president, who attributes the outcome to a phone call he had last week with Putin, in which, according to his version, he directly raised the release of Hubbard.
"This very important return should have happened a long time ago," Trump added, recalling that the detention of the American veteran occurred under the presidency of Joe Biden, who, he claims, "made no progress in his negotiations with the Kremlin."
From Moscow, the Kremlin explained that the decision to release Hubbard is due to "humanitarian considerations," although it framed the gesture within the usual contacts between both countries regarding prisoner exchanges.
The Russian authorities accuse Hubbard of having been involved in the conflict with Ukraine as a "mercenary" integrated into the Ukrainian ranks. A court sentenced him to six years and ten months in prison in a closed-door trial held in October 2024.