Trump told reporters at the White House that he had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin during a recent call to free Stephen Hubbard and that, unlike previous releases, the US did not have to give up anyone in return.
“He is the happiest man around,” Trump said of Hubbard, describing the 74-year-old retired teacher from Michigan as a “very high-quality, innocent man.”
Hubbard’s legal team denied the Russian accusations, saying he was not involved in any military activity.
The release came during a visit to St Petersburg by US envoy Steve Witkoff.
Hubbard, who before his arrest had lived in Ukraine for years, was sentenced in 2024 to nearly seven years in prison during closed court proceedings.
Prosecutors said he had signed a contract with the Ukrainian military after Russia’s invasion in 2022, and that he fought alongside Kyiv’s forces until he was captured two months later.
The US government under President Joe Biden’s administration designated Hubbard as wrongfully detained. His family also disputed the Russian allegations.
Witkoff thanked Putin for releasing Hubbard, telling him: “Because of you, he’s going home to his family.
“You talk so much about my president, President Trump, being a humanitarian. You are a humanitarian also, sir,” Witkoff said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian media that Hubbard’s release was “raised by the American side for a certain time,” and Putin decided to free the man out of “humanitarian considerations”.
Hubbard, a US Air Force veteran, taught English overseas and had retired by 2012 to Cyprus, where one of his sons is a priest.
He later moved to Ukraine to be with a woman he had met, his lawyers said, remaining in the country after the relationship ended and living there at the time of Russia’s 2022 invasion.
He was detained in April of that year after Russian forces took control of the area where he was living. (AP)