MOSCOW (Reuters) -U.S. citizen Stephen James Hubbard pleaded guilty in a Moscow court on Monday to charges of mercenary activity, admitting that he had received money to fight for Ukraine against Russia, the RIA state news agency reported.
“Yes, I agree with the indictment,” RIA cited him as saying.
Hubbard, 72, was placed in pre-trial detention last week for six months. He faces a sentence of seven to 15 years if convicted.
RIA, citing a prosecutor in court, said Hubbard had signed a contract with a Ukrainian territorial defence unit in the central city of Izyum at the start of the war in February 2022.
The prosecution said he was promised $1,000 a month and was provided with training, weapons and ammunition. Hubbard was detained by Russian soldiers on April 2 of that year, RIA quoted the prosecutor as saying.
Hubbard, a native of Michigan, had worked as an English teacher abroad for decades, his sister, Patricia Fox, told Reuters. She denied her brother was a mercenary and said he had no interest in fighting in any war.
She said Hubbard had moved to Ukraine in 2014 and lived there for a time with a woman, surviving off a small pension.
Hubbard is one of at least 10 Americans currently behind bars in Russia.
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
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