Two former Ukrainian prisoners who were held alongside Stephen Hubbard in Russian jails say they saw guards beat and humiliate the American, adding new detail to the US Russia prisoner release. Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired English teacher, was freed by the Kremlin after more than four years in detention, on the day US special envoy Steve Witkoff met Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg to discuss the war in Ukraine. The accounts describe a harsh regime that the two men say singled him out because of his nationality.
What the former prisoners described
Dmytro Khyliuk, a journalist, first met Hubbard at the Novozybkov prison in Bryansk, near Russia's border with Ukraine, in September 2022. He said guards came during inspections asking which cell held the American, and that they threatened and mocked him from his first days there. Ihor Shyshko, a captured Ukrainian soldier, said guards forced Hubbard to learn Russian, sing the national anthem and repeat prison rules he could not read.
Shyshko said he saw and heard Hubbard being beaten and shocked with a stun gun, and that he was denied food and medical care and kept in the cold. He said the American was treated more harshly than others, and that guards called him a mercenary. Shyshko also alleges that Hubbard was sexually humiliated for the entertainment of prison staff. These accounts corroborate statements from Hubbard's family that he was tortured, but they remain allegations made by two witnesses.
Conditions in prison and reactions to the release
Both men later saw Hubbard at the Pakino prison, where Shyshko said his health worsened. He described infected wounds and scabies, and said he had to bandage Hubbard himself after a doctor refused. The men described a meagre diet of porridge, bread and potatoes, along with daily beatings and forced running or stress positions.
Khyliuk said Hubbard was hidden from a team of visitors from the International Committee of the Red Cross, a humanitarian body that seeks access to detainees. The committee said in a statement that where it is granted access, it asks to see every individual and assess their conditions, and that it continues talks with parties to the conflict. Witkoff praised Putin as a 'humanitarian', and Trump said he had asked Putin to free Hubbard in a phone call the week before. Khyliuk said he was glad Hubbard was finally heading to the United States, but called the timing 'shameful PR' for the US president. Shyshko said he hoped the torturers would one day face justice.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- April 2022: Hubbard was captured when Russian soldiers occupied Izyum, where he lived with his Ukrainian partner.
- September 2022: Khyliuk first met Hubbard at Novozybkov prison.
- 2024: Khyliuk said Hubbard disappeared from the prison, and he assumed the American had been released.
- August 2025: Khyliuk was returned to Ukraine in a prisoner exchange.
- Release: Hubbard was freed on the day Witkoff met Putin in St Petersburg, after more than four years in custody.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Russia ki jail mein qaid American Stephen Hubbard ko rehaa kar diya gaya hai. Do saabiq Ukrainian qaidiyon ne kaha hai ke jail mein gaarad ne unhein peeta aur zaleel kiya. Yeh abhi ilzaam hain, jo sirf in gawahon ke bayanat par mabni hain. Pakistan ke aam logon ke liye yeh khabar qaidiyon ke saath insaani bartao par sawal uthati hai.
