US Citizen Freed from Russian Prison After Four Years

Patricia Hubbard Fox, the younger sister of Stephen Hubbard, shared that her brother, who was released on Wednesday after being imprisoned in Russia for over four years, was initially unaware that his release was happening until he boarded a plane and noticed the American flag.

“He had no idea why he was being moved from prison to Moscow, and he might have thought he was heading to his death,” she recounted during an interview on Thursday in San Antonio, the city where her brother was brought for medical evaluation.

“He’s been laughing a lot,” she said, noting that it was a laughter of relief. “It was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m free. This is really happening.’”

President Donald Trump mentioned he had urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to release Hubbard during a phone conversation earlier this month. Stephen, a 74-year-old retired teacher from Michigan, faced accusations of collaborating with Kyiv’s forces after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

In 2024, he received a nearly seven-year sentence following closed court proceedings.

The Biden administration recognized Hubbard as wrongfully detained, and his legal representatives disputed the Russian claims, asserting that he had not taken part in any military actions.

Hubbard Fox revealed that her brother endured starvation and severe beatings while imprisoned, to the extent that some of his fellow Ukrainian inmates had to assist him. “The only English they knew was ‘Die, American. Die,’” she recounted regarding the Russian guards’ taunts. “That made him angry enough to fight back, you know? ‘I’ll show them.’ I’m incredibly proud of him.”

Stephen Hubbard, a veteran of the US Air Force, had taught English abroad and moved to Cyprus after retiring in 2012. His son is an Orthodox Christian priest there. He later relocated to Ukraine to be with a woman he had met, but stayed in the country even after the relationship ended, ultimately being present during the invasion.

Patricia shared that she was unaware of her brother’s situation for some time until a woman in Ukraine found her after noticing his name on a prison roster. “God doesn’t always answer prayers immediately, but He always answers my prayers,” Hubbard Fox remarked. “I was praying, ‘Jesus, get him home.’”

She mentioned in a separate conversation on Wednesday that her brother would likely move in with her in Colorado, and they both looked forward to reuniting with family.