Russia Sentences Two American Citizens to Long Prison Terms

A court in Russia sentenced a 72-year-old American to six years and ten months in prison. Steven James Hubbard was accused of fighting as a 'mercenary' for Ukraine against Russia. According to Russian judicial authorities, Steven Hubbard, who had lived in the city of Izyum in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine for the past ten years, had joined a military unit of the country in exchange for a monthly payment of one thousand dollars. The Russian state news agency RIA reported, citing the prosecutor of the case, that this American citizen was arrested in Farvardin 1401 (April 2022), just weeks after the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. According to Russian media, Mr. Hubbard has admitted his guilt. However, last month, his sister and another relative expressed doubts about the authenticity of these confessions in an interview with Reuters. They emphasized that Steven Hubbard had been pro-Russia and deemed it highly unlikely for him to take up arms at his age. A spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Moscow confirmed awareness of the arrest of an American citizen but refrained from further comment. Meanwhile, another court in the city of Voronezh, Russia, sentenced Robert Gilman, another American citizen, to seven years and one month in prison. This 30-year-old American is currently serving a previous sentence for drunkenly assaulting a Russian police officer. He had been sentenced to three and a half years two years ago. According to the prosecutor's office, this former U.S. Marine was charged in a new case with attacking a prison official and a state inspector, and after being found guilty, was sentenced to an additional 85 months in prison. Prosecutors in Voronezh, located 500 kilometers from Moscow, stated that Gilman attacked the two individuals in separate incidents last fall. The Russian state news agency RIA, citing Mr. Gilman's lawyers, reported that he had apparently gone to Russia to continue his education and obtain citizenship in the Russian Federation, and he accepted all his crimes. According to this news agency, Mr. Gilman told the court last week that he was compelled to attack and resort to violence after a state inspector insulted his father and a prison officer inflicted a painful blow to his genital area. The U.S. Embassy in Moscow has not commented on Robert Gilman's new conviction. Robert Gilman and Steven Hubbard are two of at least ten remaining American prisoners in Russia. Just over two months ago, Moscow and the West exchanged several prisoners, including the release of three American citizens from Russian prisons.