Russia frees ailing former US Marine Robert Gilman after Putin pardon on humanitarian grounds

Release after four years in detention

Russia freed former US Marine Robert Gilman on Tuesday after President Vladimir Putin approved a pardon on humanitarian grounds. Gilman, 32, had been held in a prison in Voronezh, about 550 kilometers south of Moscow, since his arrest in January 2022. US officials said he was aboard a State Department plane heading to the Washington area, where he was to be greeted by US envoy Steve Witkoff and deputy national security adviser Sebastian Gorka. Reuters reported the destination as Washington Dulles Airport, while ZEIT ONLINE and the BBC cited Joint Base Andrews near Washington. His mother, Nina, was also on board, and four doctors were to evaluate him during the flight.

President Donald Trump announced the release on Truth Social, saying he had spoken with Putin and that Russia agreed to the release "primarily on a humanitarian basis." Trump stressed that no prisoner exchange took place and Moscow requested nothing in return. The State Department confirmed the release was "not part of an exchange, and no other concessions were provided." Trump said he spoke with Gilman by phone, and the former Marine had one request: a "good cheeseburger" upon arrival.

Disputed charges and escalating sentences

Gilman served in the US Marine Corps from August 2019 to August 2020. He was arrested in January 2022 in Voronezh while traveling by train. Russian state media reported he was detained for drunkenness and aggressive behavior and accused of kicking a police officer. He was initially sentenced to four and a half years in prison, according to Reuters and Le Soir, though ZEIT ONLINE reported the sentence was later reduced by one year. France 24 gave the initial sentence as three and a half years.

His sentence was subsequently extended multiple times for alleged assaults on prison staff. France 24 reported he was sentenced in October 2024 to eight years and one month, and his sentence was later extended to 10 years after he was found guilty of assaulting prison guards. The State Department recently classified him as "wrongfully detained."

His father, Vladimir Gilman, who emigrated to Massachusetts from Russia, wrote in an October 2024 Boston Globe op-ed that the charges were false. He said his son had fallen ill when the incident occurred and accidentally kicked the officer, who was uninjured, dropped the charges, and did not present evidence at trial.

Health crisis and advocacy

Eric Lebson, chief strategy officer of Global Reach, an advocacy group representing Gilman's family, told Reuters that Gilman was moved in late June from the prison hospital to the psychiatric ward of a civilian emergency hospital in a catatonic-like state assessed as a "dissociative stupor." France 24 reported the condition lasted 47 days. A US official who spoke with Gilman after his release said he was walking and talking, and that "all things considered he seems to be in good shape."

Gilman's sister, Lexie Hudson, credited President Trump and US Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts with bringing about the release.

There is no other reason that Robert is alive today other than that President Trump heard about the case and took action.

Hudson thanked Markey "for leading our advocacy efforts in Congress" and said the Russians "hurt him for no reason, other than that he was both an American and a Marine."

After arrival, Gilman was likely to be flown to a rehabilitation center in San Antonio, Texas, for medical treatment. The State Department said it would continue working for the release of other Americans unjustly held in Russia, including Stephen Hubbard, a retired English teacher sentenced in October 2024 to nearly seven years for "mercenary activity" on behalf of Ukraine, a charge he rejects.