Hubbard Freed as U.S.-Russia Talks Center Ukraine

Russia released Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired American teacher from Michigan, on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, while U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg. Their talks focused on Ukraine, where Russian attacks continued to hit civilians. The Biden administration had designated Hubbard wrongfully detained. Russian state news agencies reported his release, and Putin said Hubbard was at Pulkovo Airport near St. Petersburg. NBC News reported that the U.S. had not immediately confirmed the release.

Detention and release

Russian authorities detained Hubbard in 2022 and sentenced him after a closed trial in 2024 to nearly seven years in prison. The charges accused him of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine. He denied them. Prosecutors said Hubbard signed a contract with the Ukrainian military after Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, then fought alongside Ukrainian forces until they captured him two months later.

The AP reported that Witkoff announced Hubbard's release during his meeting with Putin. Earlier in the week, President Donald Trump said he'd spoken at length with Putin about Hubbard and asked him to release the American. "I've been talking to President Putin about Mr. Hubbard. I've been talking to him at length. I've asked him to release him. Let's see what happens," Trump said. Trump again said on Tuesday that he'd raised the release with Putin.

The meeting came after talks in Oslo involving U.S. negotiators, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders, including those of Norway and Finland. Jared Kushner was expected to join the St. Petersburg meeting virtually. Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov said Ukraine would dominate the Putin-Witkoff talks at Constantine Palace. Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev was also due to attend; he greeted Witkoff at the airport outside St. Petersburg.

Negotiations and state demands

A U.S. official told NBC News that Ukraine had brought forward new ideas and proposals in Oslo, where the parties made "meaningful progress." In St. Petersburg, the stated goal was to build on that progress, discuss the proposals with Russia and create a path toward direct negotiations. Zelenskyy called a possible meeting among the three leaders "one of the important ideas" raised in Oslo.

Putin has said he would meet Zelenskyy only after a deal was finalized, and only in Moscow. Ukrainians considered that condition unacceptable. The Kremlin showed little sign of changing its demands, including its demand that Russia seize all of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region. Witkoff had tried, without success, to steer Russia and Ukraine toward a settlement. The war was nearing its fifth-year mark in February.

Earlier in October, President Donald Trump signed a diesel fuel deal with Russia and waived new sanctions on Moscow. NBC described Hubbard's release as a sign of warmer ties between Washington and Moscow, as the U.S. pressured Kyiv to agree to a deal ending the war. The report said Washington had courted the Kremlin for weeks, while Trump faced domestic and international backlash over a tilt away from Ukraine.

Civilians and military pressure

Russian attacks continued Wednesday. At least nine civilians died as Moscow stepped up strikes on energy infrastructure ahead of winter. Authorities in Russia's border Bryansk region said a Ukrainian strike killed one person.

Kyiv said it had received no advance warning of at least three major Russian attacks. Restrictions on Elon Musk's Starshield satellite service continued to hamper its air defenses and battlefield operations, Kyiv said. After Tuesday's talks, Zelenskyy said recent U.S. security-cooperation issues had been resolved. "We are thankful that intelligence works now — I am speaking about early warning systems, which are very important for our people, for our children and civilians," he said.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the Oslo talks "positive," but said "nothing unexpected" had come out of them. Witkoff would take the ideas to St. Petersburg and share them with Russia, Rubio said: "and let's see if we can make some progress." Rubio denied the White House was behind any slowdown in Ukraine's use of internet service, saying the matter involved Musk and SpaceX. Musk said the previous week that any decision was Trump's.