Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced the release of US\ncitizen Stephen Hubbard, who had been detained in Russia since 2022.\nPutin said the 74-year-old had been freed from prison and was at Pulkovo\nAirport in Saint Petersburg.<\/p>\n
Putin made the announcement during his latest meeting with US special\nenvoy Steve Witkoff in Saint Petersburg on Wednesday, 21 October,\naccording to Reuters and AFP. Russian state media reported that Witkoff\nhad thanked Putin for Hubbard\u2019s release.<\/p>\n
In a statement released by the Kremlin, Putin gave no further details\nabout Hubbard\u2019s release.<\/p>\n
Hubbard is described as a retired teacher from Michigan. Russian\nforces captured him in the city of Izyum in April 2022, after being\ndeployed as part of the invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n
Russian prosecutors accused Hubbard of having served at a Ukrainian\nmilitary checkpoint.<\/p>\n
He had been serving a prison sentence of nearly seven years in Russia\nafter being found guilty of mercenary activity in a closed trial.\nRussian state media said Hubbard had pleaded guilty to the charges.<\/p>\n
However, his US-based lawyer, Martin De Luca, told Reuters that\nHubbard had told him the allegations were untrue and that he had not\ntaken part in fighting or belonged to any military unit.<\/p>\n
At the time of his release, Hubbard was the only US prisoner in\nRussia whom Washington had designated as \u2018wrongfully detained\u2019.<\/p>\n
The announcement came as Witkoff held face-to-face talks with Putin\nat Constantine Palace in Saint Petersburg, the Russian leader\u2019s home\ncity.<\/p>\n
The meeting was intended to review new ideas for ending the\nprotracted war in Ukraine, which began with Russia\u2019s 2022 invasion.<\/p>\n
The talks took place amid concern in Kyiv and among its allies that\nthe US was beginning to withdraw its support for Ukraine. Washington was\nreported to have withheld real-time intelligence on Russian attacks and\nrestricted Ukraine\u2019s military communications.<\/p>\n
Russia\u2019s release of the US citizen was seen as a goodwill gesture by\nPutin during the meeting.<\/p>\n
The meeting in Saint Petersburg was the ninth face-to-face encounter\nbetween Putin and Witkoff. The previous day, Witkoff held talks in Oslo\nwith Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the leaders of Finland\nand Norway, as well as representatives from Europe and NATO. Witkoff\ndescribed the Oslo discussions as \u2018productive\u2019.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/putin-frees-us-citizen-held-since-2022-1792583557", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }