US President Donald trump had reportedly personally advocated on behalf of US Air Force veteran Stephen Hubbard, who had been sentenced in Russia on mercenary charges and fighting for Ukraine

US President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff has thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for releasing US Air Force veteran Stephen Hubbard, who had been convicted in Russia on charges of fighting for Ukraine.

Witkoff thanked Putin on Wednesday during talks with the Russian leader at Constantine Palace in St. Petersburg. He expressed gratitude on behalf of Trump and the American people for freeing Hubbard, adding that he had met Hubbard’s son, a priest at a Greek Orthodox church, several days earlier and discussed his father’s detention.

Putin responded that Hubbard was already at St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport, preparing to leave the country.…