A Russian court has sentenced a 72-year-old American citizen, accused of serving as a mercenary for Ukraine, to nearly seven years in prison.
Recently, Russia has detained and prosecuted several American citizens and completed a significant prisoner exchange, which included Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Irish citizen Paul Whelan, facilitating the return of Russians imprisoned in the United States.
A court in Voronezh, a city in western Russia, has also given an additional seven-year sentence to a U.S. man who was already incarcerated, on charges related to violence in prison.
At Moscow City Court, Judge Alexandra Kovalevskaya handed down a sentence of six years and 10 months to the defendant, identified by the media as Stephen Hubbard, as reported by an AFP journalist.
A screen set up in the court hall displayed the announcement of Hubbard’s verdict.
He was found guilty of “participating as a mercenary in the armed conflict” following a brief trial that was largely conducted behind closed doors.
The sentence accounted for the fact that Hubbard has been in custody since April 2, 2022.
For every day spent in pre-trial detention, one-and-a-half days are deducted from his sentence, which means he has already served over three-and-a-half years, according to the RIA Novosti news agency.
The lawyer representing Hubbard stated that he is likely to appeal the verdict.
Although he faced a potential prison term of up to 15 years, prosecutors recommended the minimum of seven years, considering his age and guilty plea, as mentioned by the judge to the RAPSI news agency.
His case came to public attention on September 27, when his trial commenced in Moscow.
Russia has not disclosed his location prior to the trial.
Hubbard appeared at a hearing last week, during which the court determined that the trial would be conducted in secret without media coverage, at the request of the prosecutors.
Prosecutors asserted that Hubbard was paid a minimum of $1,000 (€910) per month to join a Ukrainian territorial defense unit.
They claimed he underwent training, received a combat uniform, and “participated in the armed conflict” in Ukraine.
Westerners currently detained
On August 1, Evan Gershkovich (L) and Irish citizen Paul Whelan were released (File image).
According to Russia’s state-run TASS news agency, Hubbard had been residing in the Ukrainian city of Izyum in the northeastern Kharkiv region since 2014.
Russian troops took over the city, which has a population of about 45,000, shortly after invading Ukraine, before being expelled in September 2022 in a counteroffensive by Kyiv.
Details surrounding the circumstances of Hubbard’s arrest remain undisclosed by Russia.
A video posted on pro-Russian YouTube channels in May 2022, during the Russian occupation of Izyum, featured a bearded man identifying himself as Stephen James Hubbard, claiming he was born in Big Rapids, Michigan, and moved to Ukraine in 2014.
The other American citizen convicted in Russia, Robert Gilman, received a sentence of seven years and one month in a strict-regime penal colony.
He was found guilty of assaulting prison staff and a criminal investigator, as reported by Russian news agencies.
Previously, he had been convicted in 2022 of attacking a policeman while intoxicated in Voronezh, receiving a sentence of four years and six months in prison, later reduced to three and a half years on appeal.
While incarcerated, he reportedly punched prison staff “in the head” on two occasions and assaulted a criminal investigator, according to prosecutors.
In recent years, Russia has arrested many Western citizens on charges varying from espionage to minor theft, with some cases related to Moscow’s ongoing offensive in Ukraine.
A notable case involved Ksenia Karelina, a dual U.S.-Russian citizen, who was arrested while visiting family in Russia and sentenced to 12 years in prison for donating approximately $50 (€45) to a Ukrainian organization.
Additionally, two Colombian citizens are currently held in Russia on charges of being “mercenaries” fighting for Ukraine.
On August 1, Russia and the West engaged in the largest East-West prisoner exchange since the Cold War.
Prisoners, including journalists and Russian dissidents, were exchanged for Russians incarcerated for serious crimes such as murder and espionage.
