Sexual violence is used as a means of torture mainly against male victims in detention and of rapes targeting women in villages under Russian control

Russian officials on Monday said it has sentenced Michigan resident Stephen James Hubbard, 72, to nearly seven years in prison for fighting as a Ukrainian mercenary.

A Russian court sentenced 72-year-old US citizen Stephen Hubbard to nearly seven years in prison on charges of fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine, following a trial largely held behind closed

A Russian court on Monday sentenced a 72-year-old American in a closed trial to nearly seven years in prison for allegedly fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine. Prosecutors said Stephen Hubbard signed a contract with the Ukrainian military after Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and he fought alongside them until being captured two months later.

Hubbard was captured less than two months later, according to Russian state media outlet RIA Novosti. In a closed trial on Monday, Hubbard stood handcuffed inside a glass cell and removed a hat from his shaven head as a judge pronounced him guilty.

Stephen Hubbard, who moved to Ukraine in 2014, was captured by Russian soldiers in Izyum in April 2022, and was charged with serving in a territorial defense unit.

A Russian court on Monday sentenced a 72-year-old U.S. citizen to six years and 10 months in prison after convicting him in a closed-door trial of serving as a mercenary for Ukraine, a Reuters reporter in the courtroom said.

Stephen Hubbard, 72, of Michigan, is sentenced to nearly seven years in prison. (Credit: APTN)