Putin says Russia has freed US citizen Stephen Hubbard

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Wednesday that US citizen Stephen Hubbard, 74, detained in Russian custody since 2022, had been freed and was awaiting transportation at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo airport. Hubbard, who had been serving a nearly seven-year prison sentence following a conviction for mercenary activity, was arrested in April 2022 in Izyum, Ukraine, where Russian prosecutors claimed he had been manning a Ukrainian military checkpoint.

The incident occurred despite Hubbard having served in the US Air Force and National Guard, earning a master's degree in English, and teaching English in Japan, according to his sister, Patricia Hubbard Fox. Hubbard was the only US prisoner deemed "wrongfully detained" by Washington, and was released during a meeting between Putin and US envoy Steve Witkoff in St. Petersburg.

Putin proposed further discussions with Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping regarding economic cooperation during an upcoming APEC summit in China.