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President Trump celebrated Stephen Hubbard’s release from Russia early Wednesday — while blaming his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, for the retired teacher being held so long.
Trump said he personally requested the 74-year-old prisoner’s release during a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week.
“Stephen Hubbard, taken four years ago by Russia during the Biden Administration, was just released from prison, at the request of President Donald J. Trump, made directly to President Vladimir Putin in a telephone conversation last week,” President Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
He added that Russia hadn’t demanded any prisoner “swap” in return for Hubbard, “out of respect for President Trump.”
The president also lambasted Biden for not doing more to secure the hostage’s return.
“Biden should have done the Hubbard release long ago! What a difference a President makes!” he wrote in a follow-up Truth Social post.
Hubbard, a US Air Force and National Guard veteran from Big Rapids, Michigan, was living in eastern Ukraine with a Ukrainian partner when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.
He was detained by Putin’s forces in April 2022, and convicted of being a mercenary in October 2024, when he was sentenced to six years and 10 months in prison.