A former US Marine who has been held in a Russian prison since 2022 and had been reported to be in serious medical condition in recent weeks has been freed and is being flown back to the United States.Robert Gilman, 32, left Russia earlier on August 11 en route to Washington, D.C., escorted by US government personnel, according to Eric Lebson, chief strategy officer with Global Reach, an advocacy group. Gilman will then fly on to Texas for medical checks and treatment.
Gilman's case -- and his medical condition -- had prompted US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to speak directly his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.Gilman was released on "humanitarian grounds," a US State Department spokesperson said.No Russians held in US custody were released in exchange -- something that has happened repeatedly in recent years -- and no other concessions were given, said the official, who spoke on condition he or she not be named.Asked about reports that President Vladimir Putin had granted a "humanitarian pardon" to Gilman, the official declined to comment on Russia's "internal process."The Kremlin made no immediate comment on the report.Gilman, who was discharged from the US military in August 2020, was traveling in Russia by train when he was arrested in January 2022 in Voronezh, Lebson said.Russian news reports said he was detained for allegedly kicking a police officer while drunk and handed a two-year prison sentence.A judge in Voronezh tacked on an additional eight-year prison sentence after Gilman was alleged to have attacked guards at the penitentiary.In an opinion article for the Boston Globe published in October 2024, his father, Vladimir Gilman, who emigrated to Massachusetts from Russia, wrote that the charges were false.
