Americans detained

Russia has kept at least nine publicly identified U.S. citizens imprisoned, according to reports, even as it released Stephen Hubbard, a retired U.S. school teacher, on October 21 after talks between Moscow and Washington on settling the war in Ukraine. The U.S. State Department designated Hubbard as “wrongfully detained,” placing him under a dedicated U.S. government process to secure his release. Other detained Americans have not received that designation, potentially limiting the scope of efforts to free them. The article lists cases including Aleksandr Antonov, detained in spring 2025 in Russia after travel to Crimea and family in Ukraine; Chuck Zimmerman, a Navy veteran sentenced to five years after a rifle was found on his boat; and Gordon Black, an Army staff sergeant convicted after a court found he stole $123 and threatened his Russian girlfriend.