Washington D.C. – The Mountain Mail, Dec. 30, 2025
For nearly four years, Nathrop resident Trisha Hubbard Fox’s brother Stephen Hubbard, who is 73 years old, has been detained and tortured in Russia after having been accused of mercenary work for the Ukrainian government.
Hubbard is a retired Air Force veteran and moved to Ukraine in 2014, where he taught English as a second language virtually.
Fox said her brother had a house near Kyiv, Ukraine, and when her brother saw the war was escalating he attempted to leave.
“The Russians … they noticed he’s an American. They saw the blue eyes and realized that’s an American. They used (mercenary work) as an excuse to kidnap him, literally kidnap him. … And, Ukraine won’t hire anyone after age 60. So that’s a major lie and they know it,” Fox said.
Fox described stories she and others have been told by Ukrainian nationals who were imprisoned with Hubbard, saying that the guards spend their days beating the inmates, forcing them to act out sexual acts on one another as a humiliation ritual and screaming “Die, American, die!” to her brother.
“Which is pissin’ Steve off even more,” Fox said. “If you get a hold of one of those clips … you’ll see him walking bent over.”
In a clip posted in October 2024, Hubbard was taken into a Russian court. His head was shaved and covered in lumps from repeated beatings, and he walked bent over. During this court date he was sentenced to six years and 10 months.
Fox said she is irritated with the lack of movement in getting her brother released. She said she had a three-hour Zoom call with Ukrainian officials and said, “For all the money we gave you (to fight the war against Russia), the least you could try to do is trade for my brother.”
“When Trump met with Putin in Alaska, he still wouldn’t play ball about letting my brother out. So then, Trump comes back the next month and puts a bunch more sanctions on countries holding Americans, which Putin just laughs at. Now, it’s like, what do we offer? … The other countries have been letting Americans go because of increased sanctions. We can’t allow a war to start, but if we let them get away with this, then how many (more will they get away with). Steve represents all of us here in America,” Fox said.
There is still hope for Hubbard to come home, Fox said, “as long as he’s alive.”
She said she went to see him in November 2024, and as of Dec. 8 he is still alive.
