72-Year Old American On Trial In Moscow For Mercenary Charge

Another American is in Russian custody, but this is perhaps the most bizarre case so far. 72-year old Stephen James Hubbard pled guilty on Monday in a Moscow court to charges of fighting against Russia in the context of the Ukraine war.

He agreed that he was a mercenary on behalf of Ukraine. "Yes, I agree with the indictment," RIA quoted him as telling the court. Russian media alleges that he had been part of a Ukrainian territorial defense unit in the eastern Ukrainian city of Izyum since the war's start. Hubbard is the oldest American said to have been captured by Russian forces, but his family has disputed Moscow's account.

His relatives have expressed doubts that he was ever a mercenary, given especially his old age and his at times expressing that he understood why Russia invaded Ukraine (that is, some media have described that he held 'pro-Russian' views and sympathies).

"He is so non-military," his sister has told Reuters. "He never had a gun, owned a gun, done any of that...He's more of a pacifist." She has also said, "The Ukrainian military does not accept volunteers aged 60 and older, and Steven was 70 when they kidnapped him."

The circumstances of precisely how he came to be in Russian custody remain somewhat mysterious and unclear:

In May, a Facebook user named Trisha Hubbard Fox claimed that her brother, Stephen James Hubbard, had been "kidnapped" in Ukraine nearly three years ago by Chechen soldiers, who allegedly beat him on video.

But with his confession he could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison upon conviction when the trial wraps up.

Prosecutors said that he had signed a contract and was promised $1,000 a month to fight for Ukraine. He had already been living in Izyum for years, surviving off a small pension, for a time living with a Ukraine girlfriend.

Hubbard is a native of Big Rapids, Michigan - but he has spent many years living abroad and has worked as an English teacher in places like Japan and Cyprus.

There are currently ten total Americans behind bars in Russia for various alleged crimes, some of them serious. There have been two major prisoner swaps between Moscow and Washington thus far since the Ukraine war began, and there could be yet more to come.

As for Hubbard, the US Embassy has said it is "aware of the reports of the arrest of an American citizen in Russia" but that "due to privacy restrictions we are unable to comment any further."