US Man Freed From Russia 'Was Tortured By Guards'

Two Ukrainian detainees held alongside American citizen Stephen Hubbard are describing what they witnessed in Russian prisons, alleging that guards carried out systematic beatings and humiliation against him throughout his detention. Their accounts corroborate statements from Hubbard's family, who have long maintained that he was tortured while in custody.

Dmytro Khyliuk, a journalist, encountered Hubbard in September 2022 at a facility in Novozybkov, a Russian town near the Ukrainian border. Khyliuk said officials immediately targeted the American, asking which cell held him and using foul language to threaten and mock him from the very first days.

Ihor Shyshko, a captured Ukrainian soldier, stated that Hubbard's foreign status drew unwanted attention from officers. According to Shyshko, staff forced the American to learn Russian, sing the national anthem, and recite prison schedules he could not read. Shyshko claimed to have seen guards beat Hubbard and shock him with a stun gun, striking his legs, back, and arms. He also alleged that Hubbard was denied food, medical care, and warmth, and was subjected to sexual humiliation for the amusement of staff.

Hubbard was detained in April 2022 when Russian forces occupied Izyum, the eastern Ukrainian city where he lived with his Ukrainian partner. Accused of serving in Ukraine's armed forces, he was convicted in Moscow and sentenced to six years and 10 months. The two Ukrainians were held with him while he awaited trial.

Khyliuk said Hubbard's health deteriorated during their time in neighbouring cells, noting that the American's complaints became more frequent and he was summoned to the prison doctor often. Khyliuk described broken windows and bitter cold, saying detainees huddled in the bathroom for warmth during time outside cells.

The men were later reunited at Pakino, where Shyshko said Hubbard's condition worsened further. "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, adding that Hubbard was weak and barely able to move.

Regarding International Red Cross visits, Khyliuk claimed Hubbard was hidden from staff to conceal his condition. "They saw only what was shown to them and they were happy with that," he said. The International Committee of the Red Cross stated 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, stating, "Russian captivity is a torture machine."

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.