Freed US citizen Stephen Hubbard was tortured in Russian jail, former Ukrainian prisoners say

Khyliuk, a journalist, was held within the earliest days of the invasion, when Russian troops superior in direction of the capital Kyiv.

He stated he knew Hubbard’s well being was declining over the months they had been initially held in close by cells as a result of he heard his complaints and the guards calling him extra usually to see the jail physician.

Khyliuk described damaged home windows and biting chilly, with detainees utilizing day out of their cells to huddle collectively within the toilet for heat.

“It was very tough circumstances in Novozybkov, worse than within the subsequent jail. It was very chilly there in winter, terribly chilly,” he stated.

Both males encountered the retired English instructor once more at their subsequent jail, Pakino, the place Shyshko says Hubbard’s situation worsened.

“There was not a single spot on his knees or on his ft with out rot,” he stated.

“Everything was rotten. We all had scabies. It was very, very tough for him. I even bandaged him as soon as on the medical centre, as a result of the physician did not wish to do it. He simply could not do it himself, and I had to assist. He was fairly weak then and he virtually could not transfer.”

They detailed a harsh regime and a meagre weight loss plan of porridge, bread and potatoes, with a each day routine of beatings and humiliation, being compelled to run or maintain stress positions.

“There’s a handler with a canine, who lets go so it will probably chunk you on the buttocks, on the elbow, or chunk your leg. Then these wounds fester very badly,” Shyshko stated.

Khyliuk claimed that quickly after their switch to Pakino, Hubbard was hidden to hide his situation from a staff of International Red Cross guests.

“I want to say that an transnational humanitarian organisation that receives numerous funding may do higher. They noticed solely what was proven to them they usually had been pleased with that,” he stated.

The International Committee of the Red Cross stated in a press release that “in any scenario the place the ICRC has been granted entry, we request to see each particular person and assess the circumstances they’re held in. We proceed our discussions with events to the unrest on this concern.”

Khyliuk stated Hubbard disappeared from the jail in 2024 and he thought he will need to have been launched. Khyliuk was returned to Ukraine in August 2025 in a prisoner alternate.

He likened their remedy to the regime of Soviet chief Joseph Stalin.

“Russian captivity is a torture machine. From the primary second of your detention, they do the whole lot to suppress you, to intimidate you. This is torture in all its manifestations, from psychological to bodily. Beatings, starvation, chilly, lack of any info, lack of the chance to speak even with different prisoners”.

Khyliuk stated he was happy to see Hubbard lastly launched and heading to the US.

“I perceive what it’s wish to be in horrible captivity. Moreover, it was not his conflict. He ended up within the incorrect place and on the incorrect time,” he stated.

But he described the timing as “shameful PR of the US president, who’s dropping votes in elections to Congress”.

Shyshko stated he hoped in the future their torturers would face justice.

“Evil should be punished, and so will probably be. I’ve hope for that”.