"Well, Pindos, have you fought enough? Now we'll show you." How American Hubbard, released by Putin, was mocked in Russian captivity

On October 21, 2026, Vladimir Putin released 74-year-old U.S. citizen Steven Hubbard from detention in Russia.

Russian military forces captured the man in Izium, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine, in April 2022, shortly after the area's occupation by Russia. According to investigation materials, Hubbard was a fighter in Ukraine's territorial defense. For this, he was sentenced in Russia to 6 years and 10 months in a general regime colony on charges of mercenarism (Part 3, Article 359 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

Hubbard himself stated that he came to Ukraine with his wife Inna in 2014 and taught English there. His wife's relatives claim that he made the confession under duress.

According to former Ukrainian prisoners of war who were held with Hubbard in Russian prisons and colonies, the American was severely mocked, beaten, and tortured in captivity. In footage from the court, the man looks visibly unwell and can barely stand.

Ukrainian journalist Dmitry Khilyuk, a former prisoner of war released in 2025 as part of an exchange, told the TV channel "Current Time" about Hubbard's treatment.

Khilyuk was detained by Russian military forces in Kyiv Oblast at the very beginning of the war, on March 3, 2022. In March, he and other Ukrainian prisoners were taken to a colony in Novozybkov, Bryansk Oblast, near the border with Ukraine, where he spent about two years.

"It was the worst there: we were poorly fed, we starved, it was very cold, and the heating worked badly. The colony where we were held was not prepared to receive prisoners of war: there were ongoing renovations, no windows, and communications were in poor condition," Dmitry Khilyuk recalls about the Novozybkov colony.

What the Former POW Said About Steven Hubbard

"I first learned about Steven indirectly around 2022. I noticed that many new prisoners appeared in the corridors: they were brought in, beaten during the so-called 'reception,' humiliated, and mocked. And then I heard that there was a foreigner among them," Khilyuk recounts.

He emphasizes that he was not Hubbard's cellmate but heard about him from other Ukrainian prisoners.

"I don't want to claim that he was beaten more severely than the others. Perhaps there was even less physical violence against him because he is no longer a young man. But moral pressure was constantly exerted on him," says the former prisoner.

"During checks, we were all led into the corridor, and standing by the doors, we could hear what was happening. This man (Hubbard) spoke neither Russian nor Ukrainian. And this aroused an unhealthy interest among the guards. They went to him as if to a zoo – to look at some unusual animal," Khilyuk recalls. "They could come not only in the evening or morning but also in the middle of the day. They searched his cell, shouted that there was an American there, and threatened him."

"During checks, they mocked him: they would say something like, "Well, Pindos, have you fought enough? Now we'll show you,"" Khilyuk quotes the threats from the Russian guards.

"He, like all of us, was also forced to learn the Russian anthem and the document 'Rules of Conduct for Prisoners and a List of Their Duties,' compiled based on Russian legislation.

Steve hardly knew Russian, so forcing him to learn all this was an additional reason for the guards to mock him," explains the Ukrainian. "During checks, the guards made us recite provisions and points from the relevant documents by heart and threatened that if the American didn't learn a particular rule, there would be consequences for everyone. This was followed by insults and profanity."

Steven simply could not learn all of this in a foreign language. Other guys stood up for him, explaining that it was difficult for the American to remember the rules in Russian," says Dmitry Khilyuk.

He specifically emphasizes that he considers it a "disgrace" that Trump's special envoy called Putin a "humanist" in connection with Hubbard's release — especially considering what the American had to endure in Russian prisons.

"He was simply kidnapped, tormented, and tortured in captivity for more than four years. And then all of this is presented as if the Russians showed some kind of nobility," believes former prisoner of war Dmitry Khilyuk.

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