Former prisoners describe abuse of freed US citizen Stephen Hubbard in Russian jail
Former Ukrainian prisoners have said they witnessed the abuse of freed US citizen Stephen Hubbard during his detention in a prison in Russia's Bryansk region. The accounts describe beatings, humiliation and deprivation while Hubbard was held at Novozybkov prison, near Russia's border with Ukraine. Hubbard was released after four and a half years in custody and flown back to the United States earlier this week.
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Dmytro Khyliuk said he first met Hubbard at Novozybkov prison in September 2022, after Hubbard had already been held for months. Khyliuk said guards repeatedly referred to Hubbard as the American and mocked him during inspections. Ihor Shyshko gave a similar account, saying officers forced Hubbard to learn Russian, sing the national anthem and repeat prison rules that he could not read.
Shyshko said he heard and saw Hubbard being beaten by guards and shocked with a stun gun. He also alleged that Hubbard was denied food and medical care and kept in the cold. According to his account, Hubbard was treated more harshly because he was American, with guards accusing him of being a mercenary.
Shyshko also alleged that Hubbard was subjected to sexual humiliation for the entertainment of prison staff. The allegations add to scrutiny of the treatment of detainees held in Russian prisons during the war in Ukraine. Hubbard, who is 74, was captured in April 2022 when Russian forces occupied the eastern city of Izyum, where he was living with his Ukrainian partner.
Sponsored
He was later accused of serving in Ukraine's armed forces and convicted in Moscow, where he received a sentence of six years and 10 months. The case is significant because it involves a foreign civilian detained in the context of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and because the witness accounts come from people who were held alongside him. The testimony also echoes claims made by Hubbard's family that he was tortured in prison.
Such allegations, if verified, would raise further questions about detention conditions, prisoner treatment and the handling of foreign nationals in Russian custody. Novozybkov prison, where the men say Hubbard was held, is in Bryansk region, an area that borders Ukraine and has been affected by the wider conflict. The prison setting described by the former detainees suggests a pattern of abuse that went beyond Hubbard alone, with guards allegedly singling him out because of his nationality.
The accounts also point to the role of prison staff in shaping daily conditions for detainees awaiting trial or serving sentences linked to the war. Hubbard's release came on the same day that US special envoy Steve Witkoff met Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg to discuss the war in Ukraine. The timing underlines the continuing diplomatic dimension of prisoner cases linked to the conflict, even as fighting and attacks continue across Ukraine.
It also places Hubbard's case within a broader pattern of detainee exchanges and negotiations that have accompanied the war. What remains unclear is whether any independent investigation will be opened into the allegations made by the former prisoners. The accounts have not been independently verified in the material provided, and Russian authorities have not been quoted responding to the claims.
Advert for a company owned by the publisher of 360LiveNews.
The key questions now are whether further testimony emerges, whether Hubbard himself speaks publicly about his detention, and whether the case leads to renewed pressure over prison conditions and detainee treatment in Russia.
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
