Russian court sentences an American citizen to nearly 7 years in prison

Investigators said that Kubard, 72, from Michigan, was paid $1000 a month to serve at a Ukrainian army defense unit in the eastern city of Izum, where he had lived since 2014.

The state news agency RIA quoted the prosecutor as saying last month that Kubard had been arrested by Russian soldiers on April 2, 2022, a few weeks after Moscow sent thousands of troops to Ukraine.

Russian state media said Kubard has pleaded guilty to the charges. But in an interview last month, Kubard's sister and mother, as well as his relatives, cast doubt on his guilty plea, saying he maintained prorus attitudes and that the odds were small for him to have picked up a weapon at this age.

“He is very non-military”, his sister Patricia Hubard Fox told Reuters last month.

He never had a gun, not a gun. He is more pacifist”, she added.

An American Embassy spokesman in Moscow said they are aware of the arrest of an American citizen, but did not provide details.

Hubard is one of at least 10 American prisoners in Russia. Two months ago, Moscow and the West traded prisoners, including three American citizens. / REL/