Russia Sentences American to Jail
An alleged American mercenary who is 72 years old has been sentenced to jail in Russia.
According to reports, Stephen James Hubbard has been sentenced to seven years in prison.
He has been charged as a mercenary for his work in helping to defend Ukraine against the Russian invasion.
Going to Jail
In the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, there were a considerable number of Americans who went to Ukraine to help the country defend its borders.
Hubbard was apparently one of those people, according to the Russians.
He had joined a group of soldiers at Izyum in the early days of the invasion in February 2022.
Hubbard was then captured alongside Ukrainian forces in April 2022.
Russia claims that Hubbard was being paid about $1,000 per month to fight in the war, hence the mercenary charges.
Hubbard is a native of Big Rapids, MI, having reportedly moved to Izyum in 2014 with his wife, where he remained until the country was invaded.
His sister, Trisha, maintains that Russia is lying about the charges.
She has posted on Facebook, “Russia’s prosecutor is lying! Steve was never a mercenary. He was an English teacher teaching English in foreign countries!”
She also noted that Ukraine was not accepting any volunteers over the age of 60 for the war.
She continued, “Russia knows this but to save face for kidnapping, beating and holding my brother all this time, their courts are charging Stephen James Hubbard anyway.”
The Biden administration responded, “We have limited information available about this case because Russia has refused to grant consular access. I’ll say a couple things about the case, though.
“The individual is 72 years old, has been held in prison for two years. He was arrested in Ukraine, not in Russia.
“Russia should grant consular access to him for the United States, as they should any time they detain an American citizen. And we are looking at the case very closely in considering our next steps.”
Just another American left behind by this administration.
