Russia has freed a former US marine who had been in jail since 2022, after Vladimir Putin granted the ailing American a pardon on humanitarian grounds.
Robert Gilman, 32, an English teacher who briefly served in the US Marines, was travelling by train when he was arrested in the southern Russian city of Voronezh in January 2022 for allegedly kicking a police officer while drunk, according to Russian state media. He was later sentenced to four and a half years in prison, though his family has consistently denied the allegations against him.
His father, Vladimir Gilman, who emigrated to Massachusetts from Russia, wrote in an October 2024 Boston Globe op-ed that his son had fallen ill when the incident occurred and had accidentally kicked the police officer.
Concerns over Gilman’s health had grown sharply in recent weeks, and the White House and the state department had urged Moscow to release him so he could receive medical treatment in the US.
Eric Lebson, chief strategy officer at Global Reach, an advocacy group representing Gilman’s family, told Reuters last week that he had been transferred in late June from a prison hospital to the psychiatric ward of a civilian emergency hospital in a catatonic-like state that doctors assessed as a “dissociative stupor”.
US president Donald Trump claimed he had spoken directly to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin about the issue, leading to Gilman’s release.
“I am proud to announce that American citizen Robert Gilman, a former United States Marine, is coming HOME!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“After my discussions with President Vladimir Putin, Russia has agreed to release him, very much on a humanitarian basis,” Trump added.
US officials told Reuters that Gilman was already on a state department plane carrying him from Russia to Washington Dulles airport, adding that Gilman would be greeted on arrival by US envoy Steve Witkoff and Sebastian Gorka, a deputy assistant to President Trump.
The official who spoke to Gilman said he was walking and talking.
“All things considered, he seems to be in good shape,” the official said.
Trump stressed on social media that Russia had not sought the release of anyone in return. “No exchange took place,” he wrote.
It is highly unusual for Russia to free a jailed US citizen without securing a prisoner in return.
The decision to release Gilman is therefore likely to be seen as a signal of Moscow’s eagerness to improve relations with the Trump administration, after several weeks in which the US president has appeared to shift towards a more supportive position on Ukraine.
Shortly after Trump returned to office, Washington secured the release of American schoolteacher Marc Fogel from a Russian prison in exchange for a Russian national jailed in the US on money-laundering charges.
Gilman was one of at least 10 Americans known to be imprisoned in Russia.
