A former U.S. Marine held in Russia since 2022 was released on Tuesday and was en route to the United States for medical treatment, following a pardon that President Vladimir Putin approved on humanitarian grounds, U.S. officials said.
Robert Gilman, 32, departed aboard a State Department plane accompanied by his mother and four doctors who were to examine him during the flight. A U.S. official who spoke with him said he was walking and talking and "appears to be in good condition". He was expected to be flown on to a rehabilitation center in San Antonio, Texas.
President Donald Trump announced the release on Truth Social, framing it as a goodwill gesture from Moscow. "Russia has agreed to release him, very much on a Humanitarian Basis [...] Russia asked for no one in return — No exchange took place", he wrote, adding that Gilman's only request upon landing was "A GREAT cheeseburger".
Gilman was due to arrive Tuesday evening at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington.
The deal followed weekend negotiations between American and Russian officials. Putin's foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, had told Trump's team last week that the Russian leader would sign a pardon decree citing humanitarian grounds and his personal rapport with Trump. The exact timing of the two leaders' most recent contact was unclear.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Gilman "joins over 100 Americans whom President Trump has freed during his second term", crediting cooperation between Moscow and special envoy Steve Witkoff. He said Washington would keep pressing for other detained Americans, including Stephen Hubbard, 74, who was sentenced in October 2024 to nearly seven years in prison on charges of mercenary activity for Ukraine. "The President will not stop until all unjustly detained Americans are home", Rubio said.
Gilman had been imprisoned in Voronezh, roughly 550 km south of Moscow, after Russian state media said he kicked a police officer while drunk; he was sentenced to four and a half years. His father has disputed that account, telling the Boston Globe in 2024 that his son fell ill during the encounter, the officer was unhurt and later withdrew the complaint, and no evidence was presented at trial.
A representative for Gilman's family told Reuters last week that he had been moved in late June from a prison hospital to a civilian hospital's psychiatric unit in a catatonic-like state known as dissociative stupor. His exact condition on release was not disclosed. Gilman served in the Marine Corps from August 2019 to August 2020.
(jh)
Source: PAP