At a court in Moscow, a 72-year-old American confessed to being a mercenary

In Moscow, at a hearing in the Moscow City Court, 72-year-old US citizen Steven Hubbard pleaded guilty to being a mercenary. This is reported by the Russian state media.

It is confirmed that Hubbard admitted that he received money for participating in the war in Ukraine on the side of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. “Yes, I agree with the indictment,” RIA Novosti quoted the US citizen as saying.

According to the investigation, Steven Hubbard, a native of Michigan, lived in Ukraine since 2014. After the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, he joined the ranks of the territorial defense. In April of this year, he was captured. International law prohibits criminal prosecution of participants in armed conflicts only for their participation.

In late May 2022, Telegram channels and mass media close to the Russian government published a video showing a man calling himself Stephen James Hubbard. On the recording, he claims that he witnessed how the Ukrainian military “fired on Izyum for propaganda purposes and to create panic among local residents.” It is not known under what circumstances and where this video was shot.

In May of this year, a post appeared on the Facebook social network in the profile of a user under the name Trisha Hubbard Fox, which states that her brother Steven James Hubbard was “kidnapped in Ukraine almost three years ago.” She claims that there are at least two videos on the Internet in which he is tied up and beaten.

An American faces from 7 to 15 years of imprisonment under the criminal article on mercenary. The US Embassy in Moscow told Reuters that they were aware of the Hubbard case, but declined to comment, citing the protection of personal data. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry did not comment on the situation.

Currently, there are at least nine US citizens in Russian pre-trial detention centers and colonies.