By Spy Uganda Correspondent
A Moscow court sentenced American citizen Stephen Hubbard, 72, to six years and 10 months in prison on Monday for allegedly fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine, according to Russian state media TASS.
Hubbard, originally from Michigan, was accused of fighting against Russia for monetary compensation and pleaded guilty last month to charges of being a mercenary, according to Russian state media RIA Novosti.
Russian prosecutors alleged that Hubbard fought with Ukraine in the key city of Izyum, after signing a contract for about $1,000 per month, RIA previously reported. He was detained by Russian forces in April 2022.
“Yes, I agree with the charges,” Hubbard told the Moscow City Court in his September plea hearing.
His trial and sentencing took place behind closed doors in the Moscow court.
Earlier on Monday, a Russian court sentenced another American citizen, former marine Robert Gilman, to seven years and one month in prison for assaulting law enforcement officers, according to Russian state media RIA Novosti.
Gilman is already serving time in a Russian prison after he was sentenced in October 2022 to more than four years for an attack on a police officer, according to Reuters. His sentence was later reduced to 3.5 years.
Gilman’s latest sentencing, in the Russian city of Voronezh, is in relation to his alleged assault of a prison official and a state investigator.
Russia’s invasion began with dozens of missile strikes on cities all over Ukraine before dawn on 24 February 2022.
Russian ground troops moved in quickly and within a few weeks were in control of large areas of Ukraine and had advanced to the suburbs of Kyiv.
Russian forces were bombarding Kharkiv, and they had taken territory in the east and south as far as Kherson, and surrounded the port city of Mariupol.
But they hit very strong Ukrainian resistance almost everywhere and faced serious logistical problems with poorly motivated Russian troops suffering shortages of food, water and ammunition.
Ukrainian forces were also quick to deploy Western supplied arms such as the Nlaw anti-tank system, which proved highly effective against the Russian advance.
By October 2022, the picture had changed dramatically and having failed to take Kyiv, Russia withdrew completely from the north. The following month, Ukrainian forces recaptured the southern city of Kherson.
Since then, the battle has mostly been in the east of Ukraine with Russian forces slowly gaining ground over many months, while losing at least 50,000 troops – and probably many more.
