After a long negotiation process, Stephen Hubbard is heading home. The 74-year-old retired English teacher from Michigan, who served in the U.S. Air Force and National Guard, spent more than four years in Russian custody after his capture in eastern Ukraine in the city of Izium in April 2022.
Russian authorities accused him of signing a contract to serve as a mercenary with a Ukrainian territorial defense unit near Izyum, where he had lived for years. A Moscow court sentenced him in 2024 to nearly seven years.
The U.S. State Department later called him wrongfully detained. On Wednesday, during talks in St. Petersburg between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, Putin announced Hubbard’s release on humanitarian grounds. Hubbard was already at the airport, bound for the United States. President Trump said he had raised the case directly with Putin days earlier and that no prisoner swap was required.
That is the sequence of events. What stands out is the basic absurdity at the center of it. A man in his seventies signing a contract to fight in a modern war strains belief. Combat is a young man’s burden for good reason. Age brings limits on stamina, recovery, and reaction time that no amount of conviction can erase.
🚨 BREAKING: President Trump just announced that Russia has FREED American Stephen Hubbard, with NO prisoner swap TRUMP DOES IT AGAIN 🙏🏻 "Stephen Hubbard, taken four years ago by Russia during the Biden Administration, was just released from prison, at the request of President Donald J. Trump, made directly to President Vladimir Putin in a telephone conversation last week. Stephen is on his way back home and will soon be with his family.” “The United States, out of respect for President Trump, was not required to give anything in return - an unprecedented situation for Russia.” “There was no "swap" necessary for this release. This major return should have taken place long ago through the Biden Administration, which got nowhere in its negotiations with the Kremlin. Stephen is on his way back home. "Welcome home Stephen, it's great to have you back," stated President Trump." Hubbard is a 74-year-old retired teacher from Michigan. He was seized in eastern Ukraine in April 2022 and hit with a fake "mercenary" charge that carried nearly 7 years STRENGTH
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) October 21, 2026
Whether Hubbard actually took up arms or simply found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, as his side has maintained, the idea of a retiree entering such an arrangement remains hard to take seriously. It says something about the desperation and improvisation that marked the early months of the conflict.
We also need a clear accounting of how Russia treated him while he was held. Hubbard was reported to be in poor health by the time of his release. We shouldn't expect human rights compliance from a Moscow penal colony, but the Biden-era diplomacy that left him languishing there demands scrutiny.
Those details speak to the standards any nation claims to uphold, and they should be examined fully once he is safely home and able to speak for himself.
🚨 BREAKING: Steve Witkoff is personally escorting Stephen Hubbard home from Russia right now. The 74-year-old retired Michigan teacher is flying out of St. Petersburg on a secure government aircraft after more than four years in Russian detention. His sister says he lived a simple life, getting by on a $300 a month pension and teaching English online. Russia grabbed him anyway. Fox's Brian Kilmeade said Hubbard "was tortured by all counts." Other Americans are still being held in Russia. Trump got this one home, so let's bring the rest of them home too.
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) October 21, 2026
The larger point is the timing. Hubbard’s freedom came as Witkoff met with Putin to discuss paths out of the war. Trump has made clear he wants the fighting to stop through direct engagement with both sides. That approach is overdue. Prolonged conflict has cost lives, drained resources, and frozen any realistic settlement.
Talking to Russian and Ukrainian officials is not a concession. It is the only practical route to an end. Prisoner releases of this kind can build limited trust and create space for harder conversations about borders, security, and reconstruction.
Our @BOFHcampaign applauds the release of Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired teacher from Michigan, who was designated wrongfully detained by @StateDept in early 2025. Congratulations to the Hubbard family and thank you @POTUS @realDonaldTrump @SecRubio @SebGorka @SEPeaceMissions @jaredkushner for reuniting him with his family. At the same time, we must continue our advocacy efforts for 5 Americans still detained in Russia who like Hubbard should be designated and also brought home. "Andre Khachatoorian was detained in 2021 and sentenced to eight and half years for arms trafficking – charges he denies. Khachatoorian, an American of Armenian descent, was arrested while traveling from the US to Armenia via Moscow. David Barnes was arrested in 2022. According to the Foley Foundation, which advocates for American hostages and wrongful detainees, he was detained after his ex-wife, who kidnapped his sons from Texas to Russia, made allegations of abuse that had already been disproven twice by Texas officials. Aleksander Antonov, who came to the US as a Soviet refugee and has since become a naturalized US citizen, was arrested in 2025 when attempting to cross the border from Russia into Estonia. According to the @JamesFoleyFund, he was accused of “anti-Russian sentiment,” the Foley Foundation said. He was sentenced to six years for inciting terrorism and extremism. Olga Jezler, a permanent US resident, was arrested for drug trafficking and sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2022. According to the @JamesFoleyFund, she was carrying legal CBD oil into Russia for her sister who was struggling with breast cancer and Russian prosecutors deliberately misclassified the substance as hashish oil. Chuck Zimmerman, who is described by his supporters as a Navy veteran who was intercepted by the Russian navy while sailing in international waters. He was charged with arms trafficking for having a firearm on board." https://t.co/DkDasqVv2X
— Bring Our Families Home Campaign (@BOFHcampaign) October 21, 2026
Hubbard’s case does not resolve the war. It does show that sustained pressure and direct contact can produce concrete results for an American citizen. The same method should now be applied to the broader stalemate.
A 74-year-old should never have been in the middle of it. Getting him out is one small step. Turning the conversation toward a durable peace is the necessary next one.