U.S. man pleads guilty in Russia to fighting for Ukraine, state media reports

The intrigue: Russia's RIA news agency reported that Hubbard, originally from Big Rapids, Michigan, had said at a court hearing: "Yes, I agree with the charges."

• But two family members expressed scepticism over his reported confession, telling Reuters that Hubbard was "pro-Russian."

Driving the news: Hubbard is accused of being paid $1,000 a month to serve with a Ukrainian territorial defense force in the Kharkiv region city of Izyum in the country's east from February 2022, per RIA.

• The prosecutor said he was trained, "provided with weapons and ammunition" and took part in "armed conflict" before his capture in April, according to the state news agency.

What they're saying: Hubbard's sister, Patricia Fox, told Reuters that her brother had worked as an English teacher in multiple countries for years and that she doubted he had confessed to the charges because he's "non-military," has never owned a gun and is "more of a pacifist."

• Fox said she last spoke to him over Skype in September 2021 and knew little of what he had been up to until a YouTube video emerged in May 2022 featuring a man she identified as her brother who said he understood why Putin's forces invaded Ukraine and he hoped the war would soon end.

• A spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Russia told The Moscow Times last week that officials were "aware" of reports of Hubbard's arrest, but could not provide any additional comment.

Zoom out: Hubbard is among some 10 U.S. citizens currently detained in Russia, almost two months on from a historic prisoner exchange between Moscow and Western nations that saw Americans including journalist Evan Gershkovich and businessman Paul Whelan freed, Reuters notes.