Russians tortured 73-year-old American Hubbard, who was captured in Izium in 2022 - NYT
Russian occupiers tortured 73-year-old US citizen Stephen James Hubbard, who was taken prisoner in Izium, Kharkiv region, in April 2022.
This is stated in the material of The New York Times, Censor.NET reports.
A decade ago, Stephen Hubbard left the United States, lived in Japan, Cyprus, and later in Ukraine, where he settled in Izium. In April 2022, he was taken prisoner in Izium. The Russians accused him of mercenarism.
Ukrainian soldiers who were held captive with Hubbard told the newspaper that the American experienced the same torture as they did: he was beaten, forced to stand for days on end, set upon by dogs, and so on. They said Hubbard would die if he was not released.
A Ukrainian special forces officer with the call sign Hacker met Hubbard in a prison in the city of Stary Oskol, Belgorod region. After the interrogation, which the soldier said was more like torture, he was taken to a cell with an elderly American who gave him water and prayed for him.
"Hacker" met Hubbard again about a month later in a prison in Novozybkov (Bryansk region), where they were held in adjacent cells.
According to Hacker, Hubbard had problems with his kidneys, stomach, and rectum. He was bleeding to death. Russian guards beat him and forced him to learn Russian words, Russian poets, and the Russian anthem.
"The soldiers, guards, and special forces looked at him as a sworn enemy. Because Stephen is an American," says Hacker.
In 2023, Hubbard was transferred to a prison in Pakino (Vladimir region). There, he was held in a cell with Ihor Shyshko, a Ukrainian soldier who had been rescued from captivity, and 13 other prisoners.
In Pakino, the prisoners were interrogated, often tortured, electrocuted, and burned. Lunch in the colony was often boiling water with a few cabbage leaves, and for dinner the prisoners were given scraps of Russian prisoners mixed together.
Later, the Russians discovered that the prisoners had scabies, so they were stripped and thrown into a cold basement, where they were forced to walk naked in only slippers for 1.5 months. According to Shyshko, a doctor told him: "The scabies mite cannot reproduce in the cold, it will die with you."
Hubbard, the warrior said, always encouraged them not to lose hope and to hang on.
Hubbard once said he thought his sister was looking for him.
The American's sister, Fox, also told reporters that she had seen a video briefly published on social network X, which showed guards beating him with a slipper.
In mid-May 2024, Hubbard disappeared from Paquino and later appeared in court in Moscow. At one of the hearings, he pleaded guilty to mercenarism.
In October 2024, a Moscow court found him guilty and sentenced him to 6 years and 10 months in prison.
