Russia jails 72-year-old American for nearly seven years on Ukraine mercenary charge
A Russian court on Monday sentenced 72-year-old American citizen Stephen James Hubbard to six years and 10 months in prison after convicting him in a closed-door trial of serving as a mercenary for Ukraine, a Reuters reporter in the courtroom said.
MOSCOW — A Russian court on Monday sentenced 72-year-old American citizen Stephen James Hubbard to six years and 10 months in prison after convicting him in a closed-door trial of serving as a mercenary for Ukraine, a Reuters reporter in the courtroom said.
Investigators said Hubbard, a native of Michigan, was paid $1,000 per month to serve in a Ukrainian territorial defense unit in the eastern city of Izyum, where he had been living since 2014.
They said Hubbard was provided with training, weapons and ammunition when he allegedly signed up in February 2022, the same month Moscow sent thousands of troops into Ukraine. He was detained by Russian soldiers on April 2 of that year, the RIA state news agency quoted the prosecutor as saying last month.
Russian state media said Hubbard had pleaded guilty to the charge.
But in interviews last month, Hubbard’s sister Patricia Hubbard Fox and another relative cast doubt on his reported confession, telling Reuters he held pro-Russian views and was unlikely to have taken up arms at his age.
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