Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired teacher from Michigan, spent more than four years in a Russian prison. Although guards had told him several times over the years that he would go home, he never trusted the news until the moment of his release on October 21. Hubbard said he finally believed he was free only when guards handed him clean clothes and walked him to the prison exit.
Hubbard shared his experience on Friday during a visit to the White House. He explained that he lived by the idea that actions speak louder than words. "Only when they started giving me new clothes and leading me to the exit of the prison," Hubbard said, "did I believe, finally believe, on the drive from Moscow to St Petersburg, 'I’m really going somewhere.'"
Russian authorities had arrested Hubbard and accused him of fighting as a mercenary—a paid foreign soldier—in Ukraine. His lawyers strongly denied the accusations, saying he had never participated in any military activity. US President Donald Trump stated that he had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to free Hubbard, noting that the United States did not release any Russian prisoners in exchange.
International observers viewed the release as an attempt by the Russian government to build closer ties with Trump concerning the war in Ukraine. The event also provided Trump with a visible diplomatic success shortly before the November 3 midterm elections in the United States.