Son says Stephen Hubbard was experiencing “extreme tiredness with life” before release from Russian jail

October 21, 2026 / 8:51 PM EDT / CBS News

Washington — Fr. Joseph Coleman feared he would never again see his father, Stephen Hubbard, when they had a brief phone conversation last year while Hubbard was in a Russian prison.

"He was expressing a very extreme tiredness with life, the life that he was experiencing at that time. I don't want to say suicidal thoughts, but the conversation hinted it leaned in that direction," Coleman, a Greek Orthodox priest, told CBS News on Wednesday in his first television interview since his father's release.

Hubbard's release was announced earlier Wednesday during a meeting between U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Hubbard, a U.S. citizen, was imprisoned in Russia for more than four years after being accused of fighting for Ukraine. The U.S. government had deemed Hubbard wrongfully detained.

President Trump said Putin had agreed to release Hubbard at his request, with "no 'swap' necessary," though he also said that his decision to waive new sanctions against Russia played a role in Hubbard's release.

In a one-minute phone call with his father before Hubbard took off from St. Petersburg, Coleman said he sounded better than he had…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/entertainment/