Two U.S. citizens were sentenced to lengthy prison terms in Russia on October 7, fueling concerns over the political motivations behind their detentions amid heightened tensions between Moscow and Washington.
The cases of Stephen Hubbard, 72, and Robert Gilman, a 30-year-old former U.S. Marine, have drawn intense scrutiny, with many viewing their cases as part of a broader pattern of Americans being used as leverage in the ongoing geopolitical stand-off between the two nations.
Hubbard was sentenced by the Moscow City Court on October 7 to six years and 10 months in prison on charges of being a mercenary.
Following the sentencing, U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Washington had limited information about the Hubbard case because Moscow has refused to allow consular access.
"Russia should grant consular access to him for the United States. We're looking at the case very closely and considering our next steps," said Miller, who did not immediately comment on the Gilman case.
Russian prosecutors claimed Hubbard had fought for Ukraine's territorial-defense forces in the Kharkiv region under a contract worth $1,000 per month.
Detained by Russian forces in April 2022, Hubbard reportedly pleaded guilty, but his family, including his sister, Patricia Fox, disputes this.
Fox has highlighted her brother's pro-Russian stance and questioned the credibility of the charges, suggesting his reported statements may have been coerced.
Separately on October 7, a court in Voronezh, about 500 kilometers south of Moscow, sentenced Robert Gilman to seven years and one month in prison for assaulting a prison official and a state investigator.
Gilman, already serving a 3 1/2-year sentence for attacking a police officer in 2022 while intoxicated, allegedly committed the assaults in late 2023 while in custody.
His case, much like Hubbard's, raises questions about the timing and severity of the charges.
Both cases follow a pattern of high-profile arrests and detentions of Americans in Russia, which many analysts view as part of Moscow's broader strategy to exert pressure on Washington.
The detentions are increasingly being seen as politically motivated, with the potential for these individuals to become bargaining chips in future prisoner swaps.
This comes in the wake of a exchange in August in which three U.S. citizens were released, including RFE/RL's journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, The Wall Street Journal's reporter Evan Gershkovich, and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, in exchange for Russian prisoners serving sentences in the United States and Europe.
The timing of the sentences coincides with a period of strained U.S.-Russia relations, exacerbated by Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine and Western sanctions aimed at weakening Moscow's position.
The sentences handed to Hubbard and Gilman come against a backdrop of diplomatic deadlock between Moscow and Washington, with prisoner swaps serving as rare moments of cooperation amid an otherwise hostile relationship.
