Russia has released retired American teacher Stephen Hubbard. Russian soldiers kidnapped him in 2022 from Izyum (Kharkiv region).
Russian media is writing about this.
This happened on the day that US President Donald Trumpʼs representative Steve Witkoff is in Russia. Trump himself told reporters that he had previously spoken to Putin about firing Gabbard.
According to Putin, Gabbard is already at St. Petersburgʼs Pulkovo airport.
Gabbard is 74 years old. In October 2024, a Russian court sentenced him to almost seven years in prison in a general regime colony as a mercenary. According to the Russian investigation, the American joined the territorial defense of Izyum in 2022, and then fell into Russian captivity. The man had lived in Izyum since 2014 with his wife Inna.
Ukrainian soldier Ihor Chychko, who was released from captivity in May 2024, said that Gabbard was constantly beaten in his cell, including with sticks and batons. He was also starved and forced to "crawl down the corridor".
- The Americanʼs release came amid a softening of US policy towards Russia. In particular, on October 17, Trump suspended the law on "hellish sanctions against Russia". The law gave the right to impose tariffs against countries that buy Russian energy resources.
- Before that, Trump agreed with Putin on the supply of Russian diesel to the American and world markets. The US says that they are doing this in order to encourage the Kremlin to end the war against Ukraine.
- At the same time, President Volodymyr Zelensky called these agreements "a weak decision by strong partners".
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine, please follow us on X.