Diplomatic discussions between US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian President Vladimir Putin have sparked expectations surrounding the potential release of Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired schoolteacher from Michigan who has been held in Russian detention.
Hubbard, who grew up in Big Rapid, Michigan, earned a master’s degree in English and spent 25 years teaching English in Japan before relocating to Cyprus. Military records indicate that Hubbard served in both the US Air Force and the National Guard. In 2014, he moved to Izyum, Ukraine, with a Ukrainian partner, according to his sister, Patricia Hubbard Fox. Fox stated that her brother was living off his pension and maintained few connections with local residents, noting that the siblings had not spoken since September 2021.
When Russian forces launched their full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and captured Izyum approximately two months later, Hubbard was taken into Russian custody. Local journalists have been unable to independently establish the exact circumstances surrounding his capture. However, Fox reported that she recognized her brother in a YouTube video depicting a man being questioned about his perspectives on Putin and the conflict. Another video surfaced showing him with his hands bound and being struck with a sandal, though the recording locations remain unknown.
In October 2024, a Moscow court convicted Hubbard of serving as a mercenary during a closed trial, handing down a sentence of six years and ten months in prison. Prosecutors alleged that Hubbard had joined a Ukrainian territorial defence unit, received military training, weapons, and ammunition, and had been promised a monthly stipend of 1,000 US dollars. While Russian state media claimed that Hubbard had pleaded guilty to the charges, his sister questioned the validity of the reported confession. She argued that Hubbard held pro-Russian views and was an unlikely candidate to take up arms in his seventies.
US-based lawyer Martin De Luca reported in June 2025 that Hubbard maintained his innocence, asserting that the charges were false and that he had never participated in any combat or military units. According to De Luca, Hubbard stated that Russian soldiers had simply pulled him from his home.
In January 2025, the United States government formally designated Hubbard as wrongfully detained, a classification that paved the way for official negotiations aimed at securing his release. Meanwhile, the State Department reported that Russian authorities repeatedly denied US officials consular access. Investigative reporting revealed that Hubbard had been transferred through at least five different Russian detention facilities prior to his trial. His legal representation learned in April 2025 that he was being housed in a penal facility located in the Mordovia region, situated east of Moscow.
