ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — Russia on Wednesday freed an American from Michigan who had been held since the spring of 2022 on charges that he fought as a mercenary for Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the release as he opened talks in St. Petersburg with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, telling the envoy that the American was already waiting at Pulkovo Airport. Witkoff thanked Putin and said the American was headed home to his family because of him.
President Donald Trump said on social media that he had asked Putin for the release directly during a phone call last week. He said Washington did not have to hand over anything or anyone in exchange, describing it as a release with no prisoner swap, and argued the previous administration should have secured it years ago.
Russian prosecutors had accused the retired teacher of signing a contract with the Ukrainian military after the February 2022 invasion and fighting with Ukrainian forces until he was captured about two months later in eastern Ukraine. The Moscow City Court sentenced him on Oct. 7, 2024, to six years and 10 months in prison after a closed trial, with the time he had already spent in custody counted toward the term. Russian officials said he confessed to the charges.
The U.S. government had formally classified him as wrongfully detained, a designation that puts a case under the special envoy for hostage affairs and signals Washington views the charges as illegitimate.
The release came during a sensitive stretch in relations between the two countries. The Trump administration has eased a number of sanctions on Moscow while pressing Ukraine to accept a deal to end the war, and the Witkoff visit was focused on those peace efforts. Trump also said some people who had urged him to impose new sanctions on Russia later apologized, and he argued such penalties would have ended the talks over his release.
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