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The US president has just posted on Hubbard’s release, saying: “Welcome home Stephen, it’s great to have you back.”

The statement posted on his Truth Social says the prisoner release was the result of a direct request Trump made to Putin in a telephone call last week.

“Stephen is on his way back home and will soon be with his family,” the statement reads.

The United States, out of respect for President Trump, was not required to give anything in return - an unprecedented situation for Russia.

There was no “swap” necessary for this release. This major return should have taken place long ago through the Biden Administration, which got nowhere in its negotiations with the Kremlin. Stephen is on his way back home.

Key events
Stephen Hubbard holds his cuffed wrists up while detained behind glass in a Moscow court room during his trial in October 2024
Stephen Hubbard in a glass cage in the Moscow City court in Moscow, Russia, Oct. 7, 2024. Photograph: Moscow City Court Press Service/AP

Witkoff announced this morning that Russia authorities had freed Hubbard, the first American known to be convicted of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine.

Hubbard, who grew up in Michigan, had been living with his Ukrainian wife in the eastern Ukrainian city of Izyum. He was arrested when the Russians briefly took over the city at the start of the war in 2022.

In 2024, he was sentenced to nearly seven years in prison by a Russian court. But he has always denied being involved with any combat or military unit, saying that the Russians just took him from his house.

Trump yesterday had flagged Hubbard’s release saying he’d spoken with Putin in regards to the 74-year-old. “It’s time to have Mr Hubbard back,” he said.

Good morning and welcome to our coverage of US politics. With 14 days until the mid-terms, we’re heading into the final straight.

President Donald Trump attended a rally last night in North Carolina, where Democrat Roy Cooper is leading Trump’s pick Michael Whatley by a considerable margin.

Undaunted though, Trump said the pollsters “never poll us right” and he predicted “some amazing results”. He’s got another rally in South Carolina later Wednesday.

Overnight he’s also posted on data centers – saying that companies building the energy-intensive sites should pay a “dividend” to the communities where they’re located, including several proposed warehouses in Michigan, where the president will head to on the weekend.

Trump raises a clenched fist at a campaign rally at Pitt-Greenville Airport in Greenville, North Carolina, on Tuesday night.
Trump at a campaign rally at Pitt-Greenville Airport in Greenville, North Carolina, on Tuesday night. Photograph: Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty Images

Trump has been pushing rapid AI expansion but in a nod to how unpopular these water and electricity-guzzling centres are with locals who have to live near them, he’s been hinting at community benefits.

Trump said the “new and giant” centers “are mandated by me to make their own electricity , and ‌give or sell any excess back to the local community, or grid”.

Meanwhile US envoy Steve Witkoff is in St Petersburg for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Ukraine; some earlier wrangling by Trump has succeeded in the release of US schoolteacher Stephen Hubbard, who was captured by the Russians and accused of having fought for Ukraine.

Stay with us for all the day’s developments.

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