Stephen James Hubbard, 72, was allegedly fighting in Izyum before he was captured by Russian forces in April 2022.Stephen James Hubbard, a US citizen, has pleaded guilty in a Moscow court to charges of fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine, according to Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency.
RIA said 72-year-old Hubbard admitted in a hearing at the Moscow City Court on Monday that he had been paid to fight for Ukraine against Russia.
“Yes, I agree with the indictment,” RIA quoted him as saying.
Last week, a court ordered Hubbard to be placed into pre-trial detention until March 26, 2025. He faces a sentence of between seven and 15 years if convicted.
Hubbard’s sister Patricia Fox cast doubt on his reported confession, saying her brother was too old to fight. She said he had been living in Ukraine since 2014 and she had last spoken to him over Skype in September 2021.
“He is so non-military,” she told the Reuters news agency by phone. “He never had a gun, owned a gun, done any of that…He’s more of a pacifist.”
RIA, citing a prosecutor in court, said Hubbard had signed a contract with a Ukrainian territorial defence unit in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Izyum at the start of the war in February 2022.
The prosecution said he had been promised $1,000 a month and was provided with training, weapons and ammunit …
