Russia Releases Former US Marine Robert Gilman After 4 Years in Custody
Umar Farooq
Former US Marine Robert Gilman, 32, has been freed by Russia after over four years in custody and is expected back in the US on February 11. President Trump confirmed no prisoner exchange was made for his release.
Former US Marine Robert Gilman, 32, has been released by Russia and is expected to land at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington DC on the evening of February 11 (local time), according to a statement from President Donald Trump on Truth Social.
Gilman had been detained since 2022 after an altercation with police. Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to release Gilman “on humanitarian grounds,” Trump wrote, emphasizing that the US did not exchange anyone for Gilman's return.
The US had previously urged Russia to release Gilman so he could receive medical treatment at home. Gilman was held in a prison in Voronezh, about 550 kilometers south of Moscow. His specific health condition was not disclosed.
A US official who spoke with Gilman said he could walk and talk normally. “By all accounts, he appears to be in stable condition,” the official said. According to US officials, several doctors will evaluate Gilman's condition during the flight. Gilman's mother, Nina, was on the flight bringing him back to the US.
Trump said a group of his administration officials were involved in securing Gilman's release, including hostage negotiation envoy Adam Boehler and advisers Steve Witkoff, Sebastian Gorka, and his son-in-law Jared Kushner. After landing, Gilman is expected to be transferred to a rehabilitation center in San Antonio, Texas, for medical treatment.
US Senator Ed Markey, who worked with Gilman's family to push for his release, said in a statement that Gilman had been “near death” after suffering severe pneumonia and becoming lethargic, “unresponsive and unable to interact or eat.” Markey called Gilman's release “long overdue” and said he had been “physically tortured, forced to take medication, and provoked by the Russian authorities” during his detention.
Gilman served in the US Marine Corps from August 2019 to August 2020. According to an advocacy group representing his family, Gilman was arrested in January 2022 while traveling by train in Voronezh.
According to Russian state media, Gilman was detained on charges of kicking a police officer while intoxicated. However, Gilman's father, Vladimir Gilman, who immigrated from Russia to Massachusetts, wrote in an opinion piece published in the Boston Globe in October 2024 that the charges were false. He said his son was ill at the time of the incident and accidentally kicked the officer. The officer was not injured, withdrew the complaint, and did not provide evidence at Gilman's trial.
Gilman was initially sentenced to four and a half years in prison, but the sentence was extended multiple times due to additional assault allegations in prison. The US government recently officially designated Gilman as wrongfully detained. Gilman is one of at least 10 known US citizens held in Russia.
