Freed American Says He Didn't Know He Was Being Released Until He Saw U.S. Flag

Stephen Hubbard, the U.S. citizen released on Wednesday after more than four years in a Russian prison, did not realize he was being freed until he was on a plane and saw the American flag, according to his sister.

“He didn’t know why he was being taken from the prison to Moscow, and he may have thought he was going to his death,” Patricia Hubbard Fox said Thursday.

Hubbard, 74, a retired teacher from Michigan, was accused of fighting alongside Ukrainian forces after Russia's full-scale invasion of the country in 2022. He was sentenced in 2024 to nearly seven years in prison in closed court proceedings. The U.S. government designated Hubbard as wrongfully detained, and his legal team disputed the Russian allegations, stating he was not involved in any military activity.

His sister described his condition upon release as dire, stating he had been starved and beaten severely in prison, to the point where fellow inmates had to assist him. She recounted that Russian guards would taunt him with phrases like “Die, American. Die,” which she said fueled his determination to survive.

Hubbard, a U.S. Air Force veteran, had previously taught English abroad and retired in 2012 to Cyprus, where one of his sons is an Orthodox Christian priest. He later moved to Ukraine to be with a woman he had met, according to his lawyers, and remained there after their relationship ended.

His sister learned of his location after a woman in Ukraine found her and saw his name on a prison roster. "God doesn't answer prayers immediately sometimes, but he always answers my prayer," Hubbard Fox said. "And I said, 'Jesus, get him home.'"

Hubbard was taken for evaluation in San Antonio after his release. His sister mentioned that he would likely come to live with her in Colorado, and they were anticipating a family reunion. "He's been kind of laughing a lot," she added. "Like relief laughing. 'Oh my God, you know, I'm free. This is really happening.'"