Russian Guards Beat US Citizen Hubbard, Former Cellmates Say

Russian guards beat and shocked American Stephen Hubbard while he was held in two Russian prisons, according to two Ukrainians who shared cells with him during his detention. Dmytro Khyliuk, a journalist, and Ihor Shyshko, a captured soldier, said they witnessed the treatment while awaiting trial alongside the retired English teacher.

Khyliuk first encountered Hubbard in September 2022 at Novozybkov prison in Bryansk, near the Ukrainian border. He said officers targeted the American from his arrival. "They came during inspections and were asking: in which cell is the American? And then they used obscene words. They threatened him, they mocked him from the first days."

Shyshko said guards ordered Hubbard to learn Russian, sing the national anthem and recite prison schedule rules he could not read. He reported seeing guards strike Hubbard on his legs, back and arms, and use a stun gun on him. Shyshko said Hubbard went without food and medical care while held in the cold.

Hubbard, 74, was seized in April 2022 when Russian forces took Izyum, where he lived with his Ukrainian partner. He was charged with serving in Ukraine's armed forces, tried in Moscow and sentenced to six years and 10 months. The two Ukrainians were held with him while his case was pending.

Khyliuk said Hubbard's health deteriorated over the months they occupied neighboring cells. He heard Hubbard complain and saw guards take him to the prison doctor more frequently. Khyliuk described broken windows and bitter cold at Novozybkov, with detainees huddling in the bathroom during time outside their cells.

The men next encountered Hubbard at Pakino, where Shyshko said rot covered his knees and feet. Shyshko said he bandaged Hubbard at the medical centre after a doctor declined to do so, and described him as too weak to move. Both said the men ate porridge, bread and potatoes while enduring beatings, forced running and stress positions. Shyshko said a handler also released a dog on prisoners to bite them.

Khyliuk said Hubbard was moved out of sight shortly after the transfer to Pakino, shielding his condition from visiting International Red Cross staff. The International Committee of the Red Cross said that where it is granted access, it asks to see every individual and assess their condition, and that it continues talks with the parties to the conflict on the matter. Khyliuk said Hubbard disappeared from the prison in 2024, and he assumed he had been freed. Khyliuk returned to Ukraine in August 2025 in a prisoner exchange.

The Kremlin released Hubbard after four and a half years on the day US special envoy Steve Witkoff met Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg to discuss the war in Ukraine. Witkoff called the Russian president a "humanitarian". US President Donald Trump said he had asked Putin to free Hubbard in a call the previous week.

Khyliuk said he was glad Hubbard was freed, adding "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 wants those responsible held accountable: "Evil must be punished, and so it will be."

Khyliuk described conditions at Novozybkov as worse than the subsequent prison. He compared the treatment to the Stalin era and said "Russian captivity is a torture machine."