American Stephen Hubbard released by Russia, Witkoff says

By Olivia Gazis covers intelligence and international security matters for CBS News. Twice Emmy-nominated, she has traveled worldwide with the secretary of state and contributes reporting on intelligence, foreign policy and other security topics across CBS News broadcast, radio, online and streaming platforms. Read Full Bio Tucker Reals is CBSNews.com's foreign editor, based in the CBS News London bureau. He has worked for CBS News since 2006, prior to which he worked for The Associated Press in Washington, D.C., and London. Read Full Bio Updated on: October 21, 2026 / 5:46 AM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google Stephen Hubbard, a U.S. citizen who was jailed in Russia for more than four years after being accused of fighting for Ukraine, has been released from custody, Russian state news agencies reported Wednesday, citing President Vladimir Putin as saying the American was at an airport in St. Petersburg. U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff confirmed the release, according to The Associated Press.Trump administration officials, including Witkoff, were in St. Petersburg Wednesday for talks with Putin and other senior Russian officials expected to focus on the Ukraine war, but to include other matters. Russian state news agencies said Hubbard was at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport and that Witkoff had thanked Putin for freeing the American during their meeting on Wednesday. Hubbard, a 74-year-old Michigan native, was the last American in Russia whom the State Department had formally declared wrongfully detained. As many as 10 other Americans, including dual nationals, remain in Russian custody.Hubbard, who is in poor health, was expected to be flown to Texas for treatment at a military hospital. Stephen Hubbard, a U.S. citizen accused of fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine against Russia, is seen inside an enclosure for defendants as he attends a court hearing in Moscow, Oct. 7, 2024. Moscow City Court Press Service/Handout/REUTERS President Trump hinted at a possible breakthrough in the case on Tuesday, telling reporters in the Oval Office he had personally pressed Russian President Vladimir Putin to secure Hubbard's release. "Everybody's been after Hubbard for a long time, long before I got here," Mr. Trump said. "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.""I'd love to get him back," Mr. Trump added. "It's time to have Mr. Hubbard back." A retired school teacher who served in the U.S. National Guard and Air Force, Hubbard was captured in Ukraine shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022. Russian authorities accused him of manning a checkpoint for mercenaries. He was sentenced in 2024 to almost seven years in a penal colony.Hubbard's family had little contact with him while he was detained, and they have maintained his innocence.It was not immediately clear what the U.S. had agreed to, if anything, to secure Hubbard's release, which came after Mr. Trump announced Friday that his administration would waive some sanctions on Russia just two days before they were due to take effect. That decision by Mr. Trump was praised by Putin but criticized harshly by members of Congress, including some Republicans. Hubbard's release follows the return of American Robert Gilman, who was freed from Russian custody in August after his health deteriorated to a life-threatening condition. A former Marine who spent more than four years imprisoned in Russia, Gilman was granted a humanitarian pardon following a direct appeal by Mr. Trump to Putin. Early last year, Russia released American school teacher Marc Fogel, and in 2024 journalist Evan Gershkovich and Marine veteran Paul Whelan were among those released from Russian custody in a complicated multi-country prisoner swap.The State Department maintains a Level 4 "Do Not Travel" advisory for Russia, warning U.S. nationals against all travel to the country due to the risk of wrongful detention, arbitrary enforcement of local laws and limited U.S. consular assistance. The Trump administration last year established a new designation for countries that are deemed "state sponsors of wrongful detention," CBS News previously reported. The measure gives the State Department expanded authority to impose sanctions, export controls and travel restrictions on countries that use detained Americans as political leverage.Despite its lengthy history of imprisoning Americans on questionable charges, Russia has not faced the designation, which was applied to Iran in February and Afghanistan in March.Some Americans jailed in Russia have not been declared wrongfully detained by the U.S. government, including Aleksandr Antonov, who was arrested in Russia last year and sentenced to six years in prison. His family argues that he was detained because he is a U.S. citizen, and they have urged the State Department to prioritize his case. CBS News reported earlier this year on an internal debate within the department over whether to designate him as wrongfully detained. In: Russia Steve Witkoff Vladimir Putin