Russia frees 74-year-old retired Michigan teacher in latest gesture to Trump

Russia on Wednesday freed a retired American teacher from Michigan it claimed it had captured in the battlefield with Ukraine, the latest gesture by Vladimir Putin to President Donald Trump as efforts pick up to restart stalled peace talks.

The release of Stephen Hubbard, 74, was confirmed by U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Hubbard's lawyer.

"Stephen Hubbard’s freedom is a dividend earned along the hard road to peace," Attorney Martin DeLuca said, crediting President Donald Trump, Witkoff and special envoy Jared Kushner for fighting for the release.

"Two Americans have now come home from Russia on humanitarian grounds in ten weeks," De Luca said. “These are tangible results of sustained diplomacy.

Hubbard was the oldest American held in Russia and the only one in Russia currently designated by the U.S. as wrongfully detained. Russia claimed he was captured while fighting as a mercenary for the Ukrainians.

The Trump administration has also negotiated the release of Robert Gilman, a U.S. citizen and former Marine, who was released in August after spending years in a Russian prison, accused of fighting with a Russian police officer at a train station. He was released on humanitarian grounds, due to his failing health, ABC News reported. 

In February, Marc Fogel, an American history teacher, was released and returned in what the White House said was the result of improving diplomatic relations that could help bring about an end to the war in Ukraine. Fogel was arrested in August 2021 after serving 14 years in a Russian prison for possession of marijuana, which his family said he was medically prescribed, the Associated Press reported. 

Trump also made a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to lift sanctions in an effort to put more diesel on the global market and bring down fuel costs.