ST PETERSBURG, Russia--Russia freed Stephen Hubbard, a retired US schoolteacher in custody since 2022, from prison on Wednesday and took him to St Petersburg to fly back to the United States, after talks that Washington said were a step toward ending the war in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin made the announcement at a meeting in St Petersburg with US envoy Steve Witkoff, who later said the talks will continue toward planned technical-level discussions involving the US, Russia and Ukraine.
Witkoff called Putin a "humanitarian" in thanking him for the move, a remark that drew sharp rebuke from Republican and Democratic lawmakers given Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The prisoner release comes as President Donald Trump's recent gestures toward Moscow, including a deal to buy Russian diesel and a waiver of new sanctions, have already sparked bipartisan pushback in the US Congress and worry in European capitals.
Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Putin had freed Hubbard, 74, at Trump's request, and that he had also taken into account the American's poor health. Trump later confirmed he had asked Putin on a call in recent days, and Putin agreed.
"The president sends his thanks, our whole nation sends their thanks, because of Stephen Hubbard," Witkoff told Putin in the meeting shown on Russian state TV. "Because of you he's going home to his family."
In a video shared with Reuters, Hubbard, wearing a dark fleece and clean-shaven, is seen in an undisclosed location in Russia shaking Witkoff's hand and thanking him. Later, Trump posted a picture of Hubbard appearing inside a plane with others and holding an American flag.
Hubbard's son, Joseph Coleman, told Reuters in a voice message that he spoke briefly by phone with his father before he boarded the airplane in Russia. "Today he seemed light in his step, a sense of happiness in his voice," Coleman said.
