--- title: Russia Releases Imprisoned American Man, Confirms Trump description: Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired school teacher, had spent more than four years in prison on charges of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine. canonical: https://time.com/article/2026/10/21/russia-releases-imprisoned-american-stephen-hubbard-trump-putin-witkoff-deal/ author: Olivia-Anne Cleary article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-10-21T11:05:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-21T11:29:08.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Russia Releases Imprisoned American Man as Trump Envoy Meets With Putin og:description: Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired school teacher, had spent more than four years in prison on charges of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine. og:url: https://time.com/article/2026/10/21/russia-releases-imprisoned-american-stephen-hubbard-trump-putin-witkoff-deal/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt103ad5db24b7fd51/6ad89a29e5df26249e8ce6ce/AP26294352972869.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 6000 og:image:height: 3375 og:image:alt: AP26294352972869.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Russia Releases Imprisoned American Man as Trump Envoy Meets With Putin twitter:description: Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired school teacher, had spent more than four years in prison on charges of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt103ad5db24b7fd51/6ad89a29e5df26249e8ce6ce/AP26294352972869.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Russia Releases Imprisoned American Man as Trump Envoy Meets With Putin > Sponsored content. 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Updated: Oct 21, 2026 11:29 AM UTCPublished: Oct 21, 2026 11:05 AM UTC  In this photo taken from video released by the Moscow City Court Press Service, Stephen Hubbard, a U.S. citizen accused of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine, is seen in a glass cage in the Moscow City court in Russia on Oct. 7, 2024. In this photo taken from video released by the Moscow City Court Press Service, Stephen Hubbard, a U.S. citizen accused of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine, is seen in a glass cage in the Moscow City court in Russia on Oct. 7, 2024. Moscow City Court Press Service via AP—File photo  by [Olivia-Anne Cleary](https://time.com/author/olivia-anne-cleary/)  ## Olivia-Anne Cleary Cleary is an editor at TIME, based in the London bureau. Updated: Oct 21, 2026 11:29 AM UTCPublished: Oct 21, 2026 11:05 AM UTC Listen 00:001.0x02:55 Narrated by TIME AI. Russia has released a retired American teacher who had been imprisoned for more than four years on charges of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine. Russian [President Vladimir Putin](https://time.com/5564173/how-putin-built-russian-empire/) told U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff of the release Wednesday, during a meeting in St. Petersburg. Video from the meeting shows Witkoff [thanking](https://x.com/Osint613/status/2112851516189249599) Putin on behalf of U.S. President Donald Trump and the nation. Stephen Hubbard, 74, was sentenced to nearly seven years in a penal colony in 2024, after being detained in April 2022\. Russian authorities accused the Michigan man of signing a contract with Ukraine’s military in the eastern Ukrainian city of Izyum after Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022\. The U.S. State Department under the Biden Administration declared that Hubbard, who was sentenced in a closed trial, had been wrongfully detained. Trump [said the release was secured ](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117478460769539937)at his request, "made directly" to Putin in a telephone conversation last week. The release was not part of a swap, he confirmed. "Stephen is on his way back home and will soon be with his family," Trump said, noting that the U.S. "was not required to give anything in return." Trump had hinted to reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday that Hubbard’s release was pending. "Just ​stick with me," he said, [when asked about the American man’s case](https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2112620561771679839). "I don't ⁠want to talk about it, but everybody has been after Hubbard for a long time, long ​before I got here. And just remember that ​question for ⁠a couple of days from now, okay? Because I do things that nobody else can do." The release of Hubbard comes in the wake of Trump waiving sanctions on Russia in a bid to progress the controversial diesel deal he made with Putin as he attempts to lower fuel prices, which have soared in the wake of [his war with Iran.](https://time.com/7382697/trump-iran-war/) The deal has earned bipartisan condemnation, with several [Republican lawmakers joining calls ](https://time.com/article/2026/10/12/republicans-democrats-call-for-trump-to-reverse-course-on-russia-diesel-deal/)for Trump to reverse course, insisting the action will only serve to bolster Putin’s war efforts as Ukraine braces for a fifth winter under attack. **Read More**: [_Lawmakers Argue Trump's Russia Diesel Deal 'Violates' the Law. Here's What Legal Experts Say_](https://time.com/article/2026/10/13/lawmakers-argue-trump-russia-diesel-deal-violates-law-legal-experts/) Meanwhile, relations between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have deteriorated, with the latter voicing grave concern over the U.S.-Russia diesel deal. Trump announced an “energy cease-fire” between Russia and Ukraine on Oct. 11, calling on the two countries to stop targeting each other’s assets. Zelensky accused Moscow of breaking the apparent agreement and, in turn, resumed strikes against Russian oil facilities, defying pressure from Washington. Trump called Ukraine's fresh wave of strikes a "[disgrace](https://youtu.be/KvwQankQR-8?t=441)" and said Zelensky is “more difficult to deal with than Putin.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/10/21/russia-releases-imprisoned-american-stephen-hubbard-trump-putin-witkoff-deal/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/10/21/russia-releases-imprisoned-american-stephen-hubbard-trump-putin-witkoff-deal/"},"headline":"Russia Releases Imprisoned American Man as Trump Envoy Meets With Putin","datePublished":"2026-10-21T11:05:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-21T11:29:08.000Z","description":"Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired school teacher, had spent more than four years in prison on charges of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine.","url":"https://time.com/article/2026/10/21/russia-releases-imprisoned-american-stephen-hubbard-trump-putin-witkoff-deal/","keywords":["russia","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt103ad5db24b7fd51/6ad89a29e5df26249e8ce6ce/AP26294352972869.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia-Anne Cleary","jobTitle":"Cleary is an editor at TIME, based in the London bureau.","url":"https://time.com/author/olivia-anne-cleary/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt103ad5db24b7fd51/6ad89a29e5df26249e8ce6ce/AP26294352972869.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"AP26294352972869.jpg","caption":"","creditText":"Moscow City Court Press Service via AP—File photo","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/russia/","name":"russia"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/10/21/russia-releases-imprisoned-american-stephen-hubbard-trump-putin-witkoff-deal/","name":"Russia Releases Imprisoned American Man as Trump Envoy Meets With Putin"}}]}] ```