Four years and seven months: The sentence Stephen Hubbard endured

Russian guards beat and stunned Stephen Hubbard repeatedly during his 55 months of detention, according to two Ukrainian men who shared a cell block with him. The 74-year-old American was freed on October 23, 2026, ending a prison term that his former cellmates say involved systematic physical and psychological abuse.

Hubbard was captured in April 2022 in Izyum, Ukraine, where he lived with his partner. Russian forces accused him of serving in the Ukrainian armed forces. A Moscow court convicted him and sentenced him to six years and 10 months. His two former cellmates, journalist Dmytro Khyliuk and soldier Ihor Shyshko, were held with him while he awaited trial.

Khyliuk first met Hubbard in September 2022 at the Novozybkov prison in Bryansk. He said guards targeted Hubbard immediately upon his arrival. "They came during inspections and were asking: in which cell is the American? And then they used obscene words," Khyliuk stated. He recalled that guards threatened and mocked Hubbard from the first days of his detention.

Shyshko described additional humiliations imposed on Hubbard. The American was forced to learn Russian, sing the national anthem, and recite prison rules he could not read. Shyshko witnessed guards beating Hubbard on his legs, back, and arms. He also saw officers use a stun gun on Hubbard. "They beat him on the legs, on the back, on the arms," Shyshko said. Hubbard was denied food and medical care and kept in the cold.

Conditions at Novozybkov were harsh. Khyliuk described broken windows and bitter temperatures. Detainees huddled in the bathroom to stay warm during their limited time outside their cells. Khyliuk noted that Hubbard's health declined over the months. He heard Hubbard's complaints and saw guards summon him to the prison doctor with increasing frequency.

The men were later transferred to the Pakino prison. Shyshko said Hubbard's condition worsened there. "There was not a single spot on his knees or on his feet without rot," Shyshko said. He bandaged Hubbard at the medical center because the prison doctor refused to do so. Hubbard was weak and struggled to move. The daily routine at Pakino included beatings, forced running, and stress positions. Shyshko also recalled a handler setting a dog on prisoners to bite them.

Khyliuk claimed that shortly after the transfer, prison officials hid Hubbard from visiting staff from the International Red Cross. "They saw only what was shown to them and they were happy with that," Khyliuk said. The International Committee of the Red Cross stated that it asks to see every individual wherever it is granted access. It continues talks with the parties to the conflict on the issue.

Khyliuk said Hubbard disappeared from the prison in 2024, leading Khyliuk to assume he had been released. Khyliuk himself returned to Ukraine in August 2025 in a prisoner exchange. He compared the treatment of detainees to the Stalin era. "Russian captivity is a torture machine," Khyliuk said.

The Kremlin released Hubbard on the day US special envoy Steve Witkoff met Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg. Witkoff called the Russian president a "humanitarian." US President Donald Trump said he asked Putin to free Hubbard in a phone call the previous week. Khyliuk said he was glad to see Hubbard freed, noting that "it was not his war." He called the timing "shameful PR of the US president, who is losing votes in elections to Congress." Shyshko said he hopes the perpetrators will face justice. "Evil must be punished, and so it will be," he said.