Russia releases American Stephen Hubbard during Witkoff's St. Petersburg visit

Russia released U.S. citizen Stephen Hubbard, a retired teacher imprisoned since 2022 on mercenary charges, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff announced Wednesday during talks with President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg. President Trump said Hubbard was freed without a prisoner swap, following his request. The release came a day after Witkoff met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other European leaders in Oslo, ahead of presenting Putin with an updated proposal to end the war in Ukraine.