Former Ukrainian Prisoners Say Freed American Stephen Hubbard Was Tortured in Russian Jail

Two Ukrainians who were imprisoned with freed US citizen Stephen Hubbard say they saw Russian guards beat and humiliate him during his detention of more than four years.

Dmytro Khyliuk, a journalist, first met Hubbard in September 2022 at the Novozybkov prison in Bryansk, close to the Russian border with Ukraine. He said guards singled out the American from the start. "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."

Ihor Shyshko, a captured Ukrainian soldier, also recalls Hubbard's arrival and says his nationality drew the attention of the officers. According to Shyshko, Hubbard was forced to learn Russian, sing the national anthem and recite the prison schedule rules, which he could not read. Shyshko said he saw and heard guards beat Hubbard and shock him with a stun gun. "They beat him on the legs, on the back, on the arms," he said, adding that Hubbard was denied food and medical care and kept in the cold. Shyshko also alleges that Hubbard was subjected to sexual humiliation and abuse for the amusement of prison staff.

Hubbard was captured in April 2022 when Russian soldiers occupied Izyum, the eastern Ukrainian city where he lived with his Ukrainian partner. He was accused of serving in Ukraine's armed forces, convicted at a trial in Moscow and sentenced to six years and 10 months. The two Ukrainians were held with him while he awaited trial. Their accounts support statements by Hubbard's family that he was tortured in prison.

Khyliuk said Hubbard's health declined over the months they spent in neighbouring cells. He could hear Hubbard's complaints, and guards summoned him to the prison doctor more often. Khyliuk described broken windows and bitter cold, with detainees using their time outside the cells to huddle in the bathroom for warmth. Conditions at Novozybkov, he said, were worse than at the next prison.

The men met the retired English teacher again at Pakino, where Shyshko says his condition worsened. "There was not a single spot on his knees or on his feet without rot," he said. Shyshko recalled bandaging Hubbard at the medical centre because the doctor refused, and said Hubbard was weak and barely able to move. They described a diet of porridge, bread and potatoes, and a daily routine of beatings, forced running and stress positions. Shyshko also described a handler setting a dog on prisoners to bite them.

Khyliuk claimed that soon after the transfer to Pakino, Hubbard was hidden to conceal his condition from visiting International Red Cross staff. "They saw only what was shown to them and they were happy with that," he said. The International Committee of the Red Cross said that wherever it is granted access, it asks to see every individual and assess their conditions, and that it continues talks with the parties to the conflict on the issue.

Khyliuk said Hubbard vanished from the prison in 2024 and he assumed he had been released. Khyliuk himself returned to Ukraine in August 2025 in a prisoner exchange. He compared the treatment to the Stalin era. "Russian captivity is a torture machine," he said.

The Kremlin released Hubbard, 74, 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 phone call the previous week.

Khyliuk said he was glad to see Hubbard freed, noting that "it was not his war." He nonetheless called the timing "shameful PR of the US president, who is losing votes in elections to Congress". Shyshko said he hopes the perpetrators will one day face justice. "Evil must be punished, and so it will be," he said.