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American Citizen Sentenced in Russia for Serving as Mercenary

Stephen Hubbard

MOSCOW: A Russian court has sentenced 72-year-old American citizen Stephen James Hubbard to six years and ten months in prison after convicting him of serving as a mercenary for Ukraine. The trial was held behind closed doors, and the verdict was announced on Monday in Moscow City Court.

Hubbard, a native of Michigan, had reportedly been living in Ukraine since 2014. Investigators stated that he was recruited to serve in a Ukrainian territorial defence unit in the eastern city of Izyum, receiving a payment of $1,000 per month. The prosecution claimed that Hubbard was trained and equipped with weapons and ammunition after he allegedly signed up in February 2022, shortly before the escalation of conflict in Ukraine when Russia deployed thousands of troops.

Hubbard was detained by Russian forces on April 2, 2022. Russian state media reported that he had pleaded guilty to the charges against him, but doubts about the authenticity of this confession were raised by family members. Patricia Hubbard Fox, Hubbard’s sister, expressed skepticism about the reported admission, highlighting that he held pro-Russian views and that it was unlikely he would have taken up arms at his age.

During the court proceedings, Hubbard appeared in a glass cage, dressed in a beige sweater and handcuffs. He stood up slowly to hear the verdict but displayed no visible emotion as the judge pronounced him guilty. After the ruling, he conferred with his lawyer, who later stated intentions to appeal the decision but did not provide further comments to the media.

The exact circumstances surrounding Hubbard’s detention remain unclear, as the Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Ministry has not responded to requests for information. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the US embassy in Moscow confirmed awareness of the situation but refrained from elaborating on the details.

Hubbard’s family painted a picture of a man who had become isolated over the years. He had lived abroad for decades, teaching English in countries such as Japan and Cyprus, which contributed to his estrangement from some family members. Fox noted that he moved to Ukraine in 2014, living with a Ukrainian woman for some time and surviving on a modest pension of around $300 a month. She mentioned that he never learned Russian or Ukrainian, limiting his connections within the local community.

Hubbard is one of at least ten Americans currently imprisoned in Russia. His sentencing comes nearly two months after a prisoner swap between Moscow and the West on August 1, which resulted in the release of three Americans along with many others.

In a separate case on the same day, a court in Voronezh sentenced another American, ex-marine Robert Gilman, to seven years and one month in prison for assaulting a prison official while serving time for an earlier conviction.

The cases of Hubbard and Gilman underscore the ongoing tensions between the US and Russia and the precarious situations faced by American citizens abroad amid the geopolitical conflict.

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