MOSCOW – Russia released ailing U.S. Marine veteran Robert Gilman on Tuesday, with President Vladimir Putin approving a pardon for the American on humanitarian grounds, U.S. officials announced. Gilman, 32, had been imprisoned in Russia since January 2022.
The White House and the State Department had advocated for Gilman's release so he could receive medical care in the United States. He was held at a prison in Voronezh, approximately 340 miles south of Moscow.
Details about Gilman's health were not fully clear, but Eric Lebson, chief strategy officer for Global Reach, an advocacy group representing Gilman's family, stated last week that Gilman was transferred in late June from the prison hospital to the psychiatric ward of a civilian emergency hospital. He was described as being in a catatonic-like state, assessed as a "dissociative stupor."
U.S. officials confirmed that Gilman was aboard a State Department plane en route to Washington Dulles Airport. A U.S. official who spoke with Gilman during the flight reported that he was walking and talking, and in good condition.
Four doctors were set to evaluate Gilman during the flight, according to U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. His mother, Nina, was also on board.
Upon arrival at Dulles, Gilman was expected to be met by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Deputy National Security Adviser Sebastian Gorka. They, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, former Trump aide Jared Kushner, and U.S. special envoy for hostage response Adam Boehler, had been involved in seeking his release.
Gilman is likely to be transferred to a rehabilitation center in San Antonio, Texas, for further medical treatment.
Gilman, who served in the U.S. Marines from August 2019 to August 2020, was arrested in Voronezh in January 2022 while traveling by train. Russian state media reported his detention stemmed from allegations of kicking a police officer while intoxicated. However, his father, Vladimir Gilman, wrote in a Boston Globe op-ed in October 2024 that the charges were false. He stated that his son was ill at the time of the incident and unintentionally kicked the officer, who was uninjured and did not press charges or present evidence at trial. Gilman was sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison and was one of at least 10 Americans known to be held in Russia.
According to U.S. officials, a senior Russian official, Yuri Ushakov, informed Trump aides last week that Putin had agreed to issue a pardon for Gilman for humanitarian reasons, citing Putin's relationship with the U.S. president. The release was the result of intensive negotiations over the weekend involving U.S. and Russian officials. U.S. officials stated that no Russian prisoners were exchanged for Gilman's release, characterizing it as a goodwill gesture.