Russia releases 74-year-old American prisoner during envoy Witkoff's visit

Stephen Hubbard, an American who had been imprisoned in Russia for more than four years, has been released during US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff's visit to St Petersburg.

Source: CNN, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired teacher from Michigan, had been designated by the US State Department as wrongfully detained.

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he had raised Hubbard's case during a conversation with Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin.

Prior to Witkoff's trip to Moscow, a US official said the special envoy's visit was "expected to include efforts to seek the release of wrongfully detained American citizen Hubbard, reflecting President Trump's continued commitment to bringing Americans home".

Hubbard had lived abroad for decades, working as an English teacher. In 2014 he moved to the city of Izium in Kharkiv Oblast, which was occupied by Russian forces at the beginning of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine in 2022.

Quote from CNN: "According to Russian state media, Russian prosecutors alleged that Hubbard fought in Izium after signing a contract for about US$1,000 per month. His sister, Patricia Hubbard Fox, said that the accusation was a lie."

Details: Hubbard is the latest American to be released from Russian detention. In August a Marine veteran, Robert Gilman, was released on humanitarian grounds amid serious concerns about his health.

Gilman was severely emaciated when he returned to the US on a special medical aircraft. The organisation that advocated for his release said he had been tortured in Russian detention.

Background

• Witkoff is currently in St Petersburg, where he is scheduled to hold talks with Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin.
• On 20 October, talks took place in Oslo between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and US presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
• Stubb said the talks had covered security, energy and economic issues in the context of Russia's war against Ukraine.
• Axios reported that Kushner, who joined the talks remotely, had demanded that Ukraine stop striking Russian oil refineries.

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