Russia releases US Marine veteran who was near death, heading to US

Russia has released American Marine veteran Robert Gilman, who was imprisoned for over four years, and he is on his way to the US. His family had warned that his condition had deteriorated and he was near death. US officials reported that he is speaking and walking, accompanied by his mother and four doctors. The release was granted as a pardon by Putin for 'humanitarian reasons', without a prisoner exchange deal.

Russia released American Marine veteran Robert Gilman from prison today (Tuesday), after he had been held for more than four years, just days after his family warned that he was hospitalized in critical condition and might be near death. US officials told Reuters that Gilman, 32, who Russia imprisoned in 2022 on charges of assaulting a police officer while drunk, received a pardon from President Vladimir Putin for 'humanitarian reasons'. In the past, such releases were part of prisoner exchange deals, but so far there is no indication or report that this was the case here. US officials said Gilman is now aboard a State Department plane heading to the US, and at Washington airport he will be greeted by special envoy Steve Witkoff, who was involved in negotiations for his release. From there, he is expected to continue to a rehabilitation center in San Antonio, Texas. American organizations working for his release warned last weekend that due to abuse suffered in prison, Gilman had sunk into a catatonic-like state where he barely responded to external stimuli, but one US official told Reuters that he spoke with him since his release - and that he is speaking and walking. 'Given the circumstances, he seems to be in good condition,' the official said. According to Reuters, four doctors are on the flight to the US examining his medical condition. Gilman's mother, Nina, is also on the flight and has been reunited with him. The release comes amid warnings that Gilman's condition in prison was deteriorating. Gilman was held until recently in a prison in Voronezh, about 547 kilometers south of Moscow, but according to reports, at the end of June he was transferred from the prison hospital to the psychiatric ward of a civilian hospital in the city, after sinking into a catatonic-like state diagnosed as 'dissociative stupor'. Eric Lebson, a senior official at Global Reach, the organization representing his family, said last Thursday that Gilman cannot eat on his own and is fed through a tube. 'We are very afraid we will see another case like Otto Warmbier,' Lebson said. Warmbier was an American student imprisoned in North Korea and returned to the US in June 2017 in a coma after 17 months in detention, and died that same month. A source familiar with the matter told Reuters that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio raised Gilman's case in a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Manila on July 23. The source could not say how Lavrov responded to the request. Gilman, who served in the US Marine Corps from August 2019 to August 2020, was arrested in Voronezh in January 2022 during a train trip, and authorities there claim he kicked a police officer while drunk. However, according to his family's version, at the police station where he was taken, he vomited and during the incident accidentally kicked the officer. The officer was not injured and did not file a complaint, but Gilman was indicted and sentenced to four and a half years in prison. On appeal, his sentence was reduced to three and a half years. Since then, the original prison sentence only worsened: in October 2024, Gilman was convicted of assaulting a staff member and a government investigator in prison, and was given a total sentence of seven years and one month. In April 2025, a year was added to his sentence, making it eight years and one month. According to reports in Russian state media, in December 2025 he was convicted of additional assaults on prison staff, and his total sentence was raised to ten years. The organizations accompanying his family do not necessarily deny that the incidents occurred, but claim they were the result of severe and ongoing abuse. According to them, Gilman was held in harsh conditions, suffered torture, and was forced to take consciousness-altering substances, and his condition deteriorated until he was transferred to the civilian hospital.