A former US Marine who has been held in a Russian prison since 2022 and had been reported to be in serious medical condition 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 with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.
A US State Department spokesperson also said that no Russians held in US custody were released in exchange -- something that has happened repeatedly in recent years -- and no other concessions were given.
Asked about reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin had granted a "humanitarian pardon" to Gilman, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he was released on "humanitarian grounds" but declined to comment on Russia's "internal process."
In a statement on social media, US President Donald Trump suggested that Gilman's release came after conversations with Putin.
The Kremlin made no immediate comment on the report or on Trump's statement about talks with Putin.
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. Voronezh is about 500 kilometers south of Moscow.
Russian news reports said he was detained for allegedly kicking a police officer while drunk and handed a two-year prison sentence.
A local judge later tacked on an additional eight-year prison sentence after Gilman was alleged to have attacked prison guards.
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.
In late June, Gilman was hospitalized after he suffered from a "dissociative stupor," Lebson told RFE/RL.
It was unclear exactly why his condition worsened so drastically in recent months. Photographs of Gilman appearing for a court hearing in April showed him alert and conscious.
Gilman had been "subjected to harsh and abusive treatment" while in prison, Lebson said, but did not give further details.
The subject of US citizens being held in Russian prisons has become a prominent political issue in recent years.
Under Trump, as well as his predecessor, Joe Biden, Moscow and Washington conducted several major swaps of prisoners held in US and Russian prisons.
At least five American citizens remain in Russian detention, according to Lebson; other reports put the number as high as 10.
In a separate statement, Rubio specifically cited the case of Stephen Hubbard, a 72-year-old native of Michigan who had fought as a mercenary for Ukrainian forces and was captured by Russian troops in April 2022.
In 2024, a Russian court sentenced him to seven years in prison.
An unknown number of Russians, meanwhile, are being held in US custody, including a former employee of Russia's main intelligence agency, the FSB, who was extradited from Thailand to the United States in June on computer hacking charges.
Last week, Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian who was serving a 20-.year US prison sentence on drug charges when he was released in 2022 as part of another prisoner swap, told the TASS news agency that Moscow was unlikely to release Gilman on humanitarian grounds.
Trump said Gilman's mother was on the plane with him.
"I just spoke to him, and he had one request -- A GREAT cheeseburger when he lands," Trump said in his social media post. "I will take care of that!"
