托马斯·派珀特 丹佛 —— 斯蒂芬·哈伯德的妹妹周三表示，这位在俄罗斯监狱度过四年多后获释的美国人已与她通了电话，她形容哥哥难以置信。
THOMAS PEIPERT DENVER — The younger sister of Stephen Hubbard, the American freed Wednesday after spending more than four years in a Russian prison, said she spoke with her brother by phone and described him as being in disbelief.
“这太棒了。他只是在笑……他说：‘我简直不敢相信这正在发生，’”帕特里夏·哈伯德·福克斯在接受美联社电话采访时说，当时她正前往丹佛机场，准备搭乘飞往圣安东尼奥的航班与哥哥会合。
“That was awesome. He was just laughing. ... He said, ‘I can’t believe this is happening,’” Patricia Hubbard Fox told The Associated Press in a phone interview as she headed to Denver’s airport to catch a flight to San Antonio to meet her brother.
唐纳德·特朗普总统表示，他在本月初与俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京的一次通话中，曾要求释放哈伯德。这位来自密歇根州、现年74岁的退休教师在美方特使史蒂夫·维特科夫访问圣彼得堡并与普京就乌克兰战争举行会谈后，踏上了归途。
President Donald Trump said he had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin during a phone call earlier this month to free Hubbard, a 74-year-old retired teacher from Michigan. Hubbard was headed home following a visit to St. Petersburg by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, who also held talks with Putin about the war in Ukraine .
“他已脱离俄罗斯领土。他自由了，感谢上帝。他真以为自己会死在监狱里，”哈伯德·福克斯说，并补充称哥哥在被囚期间遭受了殴打和饥饿。
“He’s out of Russia territory. He is free, praise God. He really thought he was going to die in prison,” Hubbard Fox said, adding that her brother suffered beatings and starvation while he was held captive.
她说，哥哥2022年被“绑架”时身体健康，却被指控与基辅部队并肩作战。她说，他现在患有心脏扩大，很可能患有创伤后应激障碍。
She said her brother was in perfect health when he was “kidnapped” in 2022 and accused of fighting alongside Kyiv’s forces. She said he now suffers from an enlarged heart and likely has post-traumatic stress disorder.
据称，哈伯德与乌克兰军方签署了合同，并于2024年在不公开的庭审中被判处近七年监禁。拜登政府曾认定他为被任意拘留，他的法律团队也驳斥了俄方指控，称他未参与任何军事活动。
Her brother was accused ofg a contract with the Ukrainian military and sentenced in 2024 to nearly seven years in prison during closed court proceedings. The U.S. government under the Biden administration designated him as wrongfully detained, and his legal team has also disputed the Russian allegation, saying he was not involved in any military activity.
哈伯德是美国空军退伍军人，曾在海外教授英语，2012年退休后定居塞浦路斯，他的一名儿子在那里担任东正教神甫。他的律师称，他后来为与一名女子同住而搬到乌克兰，关系结束后仍留在该国，直至俄罗斯入侵时仍居住在那里。
Hubbard, a U.S. Air Force veteran, taught English overseas and retired in 2012 to Cyprus, where one of his sons is an Orthodox Christian priest. He later moved to Ukraine to be with a woman he had met, his lawyers said, and remained in the country after the relationship ended and was living there at the time of Russia’s invasion.
哈伯德·福克斯还反驳了她哥哥是雇佣兵的说法，称他在普京与乌克兰的战争中被当作“诱饵”使用。“普京邪恶到了极点，”她说。
Hubbard Fox also disputed the claim that her brother was a mercenary, saying he was used as “bait” in Putin’s war with Ukraine. “Putin is as evil as they come,” she said.
哈伯德·福克斯说，她哥哥很可能会来科罗拉多州和她一起生活，他们都期待着家庭团聚。也许她以后能在自己的床上睡个安稳觉了。
Hubbard Fox said her brother would probably come live with her in Colorado, and they both were looking forward to a family reunion. And perhaps she will be able to get some peaceful sleep in her own bed.
哈伯德·福克斯说，为了声援哥哥，她已经在沙发上睡了四年，“因为我觉得他没有床睡。凭什么我有床睡？”
Hubbard Fox said she has slept on her couch for four years in solidarity with her brother “because I figured he didn’t have a bed. Why should I have a bed?”