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Russia frees ailing ex-US Marine Robert Gilman from detention

11 August 2026 19:20 (UTC +04:00)

Moscow on Tuesday freed a former U.S. Marine jailed in Russia since 2022 after Russian President Vladimir Putin approved a pardon for the ailing American based on humanitarian reasons, U.S. officials said, Reuters reports.

The White House and the ‌State Department had urged Moscow to release Robert Gilman, 32, so he can receive medical treatment in the United States.

Gilman was being held in a prison in Voronezh, about 340 miles (550 kilometers) south of Moscow. The exact circumstances of his health are unclear.

But Eric Lebson, chief strategy officer of Global Reach, an advocacy group representing Gilman's family, told Reuters last week 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."

The U.S. officials said Gilman on Tuesday was on a State Department plane carrying him from Russia to Washington Dulles Airport.

A U.S. official who spoke to Gilman said he was walking and talking.

"All things considered he seems to be in good shape," the official said.

Gilman will be evaluated on the flight by four doctors, said the U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. His mother, Nina, was also on board.