Russia frees American Stephen Hubbard
Channel: CBS News
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Read a transcript preview of “Russia frees American Stephen Hubbard” from CBS News, uploaded on 2026-10-21.
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Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)
[0:03] We begin with breaking news this
[0:05] morning. Russia has freed Steven Hubard,
[0:07] an American who the State Department
[0:09] declared as wrongly detained. Back in
[0:11] 2024, a Russian court sentenced the now
[0:14] 74 year old to almost 7 years in prison.
[0:17] He was accused of being a mercenary for
[0:20] Ukraine. President Trump posted this
[0:22] message online a short time ago, saying
[0:25] in part, quote, "There was no swap
[0:27] necessary for this release." Steven is
[0:30] on his way back home. US Envoy Steve
[0:32] Wickoff spoke with Vladimir Putin this
[0:34] morning in Russia about this release.
[0:37] >> First of all, um I wanted to thank you
[0:40] very much. Um the president sends his
[0:42] thanks. Uh our whole nation sends their
[0:45] thanks. Um because of Steven Hubard,
[0:47] he's going because of you, he's going
[0:49] home to his family and uh actually met
[0:52] with his son just the other day. He's a
[0:55] a priest. he's met you uh in the Greek
[0:58] Orthodox Church and um he talked quite a
[1:01] bit about you. So, the first thing I
[1:02] want to tell you is thank you.
[1:04] >> CBS News intelligence and national
[1:06] security reporter Olivia Gases joins us
[1:08] now on the phone. Olivia, this all
[1:11] happened within the past hour or so, so
[1:13] it's still new information. Uh what are
[1:15] the details?
[1:17] >> That's true. Good morning, Errol. Well,
[1:19] it is always worth celebrating when an
[1:20] American who was imprisoned in Russia
[1:22] for years, more than four years, uh is
[1:25] finally free. Uh as you mentioned, this
[1:28] 74year-old Steven Hubard who is from
[1:30] Michigan uh was released uh today uh
[1:33] with u