His story first came to my attention back in September 2024, when a woman identifying herself on Facebook as the sister of American Stephen James Hubbard wrote that her 72-year-old brother, a retired school teacher who had been living in Izyum, Ukraine, for some ten years, had been kidnapped by Russian forces in 2022 and was being held on charges of fighting as a mercenary on behalf of Ukraine.

At first, all that was known was that a hearing on Hubbard’s case had been scheduled in Moscow for October 3, 2024. But it was soon learned that his trial had actually begun on September 27th, and was scheduled to continue on October 3rd. If convicted of the charges against him, he could receive a sentence of seven to fifteen years in prison . . . at his age, and under the harsh conditions of life in a Russian penal colony, a virtual life sentence.

On October 5th, the Moscow court announced that the closed-door trial had resulted in Hubbard’s admission of guilt, and that — upon the request of prosecutors, allegedly in deference to Hubbard’s age — he had been sentenced to the minimum seven years, to be served in a maximum-security penal colony.

And then he vanished.

Finally, in April of this year, his family and his U.S.-based legal team were able to track him down in a prison facility in the Mordovia region of Russia, some 275 miles east/southeast of Moscow. Though U.S. officials have requested his immediate release, consular access to him has been denied. But he has finally been allowed to communicate remotely from prison, about which his American attorney, Martin De Luca, had this to say:

“The first thing Hubbard wanted to talk about when he was able to make contact with the outside world was: ‘It’s not true.’ They [Russian soldiers] grabbed him from his house. He was not in any combat or military unit.” [Lucy Papachristou, Reuters, June 13, 2025.]

And Hubbard’s son, Joseph Coleman of Cyprus, said he was able to speak to his father by phone for less than five minutes on May 28th:

“He did sound a little down. He said, ‘I’m tired of being a slave.’” [Id.]

A masterpiece of understatement, no doubt.

*. *. *

Of the nine Americans currently imprisoned in Russia, Hubbard, now aged 73, is the only one officially designated by the U.S. as “wrongfully detained,” which gives him the best chance of being returned home in a future prisoner exchange; and his recent reemergence is reason for cautious optimism. Further, the Kremlin said last month that the two sides had been in discussions concerning a possible swap involving nine people on each side, though no names have been released as yet.

This is making it difficult to type, but my fingers seem to be stuck in a crossed position until all nine Americans — and the other political prisoners of various nationalities — are returned safely home.

And once again, here they are:

Prisoners of War:

The People of Ukraine
The Azov 12

Political Prisoners:

David Barnes
Ales Bialiatski (in Belarus)
Gordon Black
Andrei Chapiuk (in Belarus)
Antonina Favorskaya
Konstantin Gabov
Robert Gilman
Stephen James Hubbard
Sergey Karelin
Ihar Karney (in Belarus) on
Vadim Kobzev
Darya Kozyreva
Artyom Kriger
Uladzimir Labkovich (in Belarus)
Michael Travis Leake
Aleksei Liptser
Ihar Losik (in Belarus)
Mikita Losik (in Belarus)
Daniel Martindale
Farid Mehralizada (in Azerbaijan)
Nika Novak
Marfa Rabkova (in Belarus)
Igor Sergunin
Dmitry Shatresov
Robert Shonov
Eugene Spector
Valiantsin Stafanovic (in Belarus)
Siarhei Tsikhanouski (in Belarus)
Laurent Vinatier
Robert Romanov Woodland
Vladislav Yesypenko (in Crimea)
Yuras Zyankovich (in Belarus)

. . . and any others I may have missed.

Safe home, everyone!

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
6/15/25