President Donald Trump said Russia has released a retired American teacher who was imprisoned on allegations that he fought as a mercenary in Ukraine.
In a Wednesday morning post on Truth Social, Trump said Stephen Hubbard was freed after he personally raised the case with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a phone call the previous week.
“Stephen Hubbard, taken four years ago by Russia during the Biden Administration, was just released from prison, at the request of President Donald J. Trump, made directly to President Vladimir Putin in a telephone conversation last week,” Trump wrote.
Trump said Hubbard was returning to the United States to reunite with his family and claimed Washington made no concessions in exchange for his release. “There was no ‘swap’ necessary,” he wrote, arguing that Russia acted out of respect for the U.S. president. “Welcome home Stephen, it’s great to have you back!”
A screen set up in a hall of the Moscow City Court broadcasts the verdict announcement in the trial of U.S. citizen Stephen Hubbard, 72, accused of fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine, in Moscow on Oct. 7, 2024. (NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP via Getty Images)
In a second post, Trump said people who had urged immediate sanctions against Russia later apologized after learning that negotiations over Hubbard’s release were underway. He warned that imposing sanctions could have brought the talks “to a complete and total halt.”
“Biden should have done the Hubbard release long ago!” Trump wrote in another post. “What a difference a President makes!”
Hubbard, a Michigan resident, was sentenced by a Russian court in 2024 to nearly seven years in prison. Prosecutors alleged that he signed a contract with Ukraine’s military after Russia launched its invasion in February 2022 and fought with Ukrainian forces before being captured two months later.
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U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff also raised Hubbard’s case with Putin during a meeting on Wednesday. “Because of you, he’s going home to his family,” Witkoff told the Russian leader.
Steve Witkoff, U.S. special envoy, speaks at a Board of Peace High Level Briefing on Sept. 23, 2026 in New York City. (Ryan Murphy/Getty Images)
Witkoff described Hubbard as a 75-year-old man and characterized Putin as a “humanitarian” in discussing the decision.
Trump said Tuesday that he had been communicating with Putin about securing Hubbard’s release.
Stephen Hubbard, charged with fighting as a mercenary in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, appears for a hearing at the Moscow City Court in Moscow, Russia on Oct. 8, 2024. (Moscow City Court/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“I’ve been talking to President Putin about Mr. Hubbard. I’ve been talking to him at length. I’ve asked him to release him,” Trump said. “Let’s see what happens.”