Vladimir Putin Pardons And Russia Releases Ex-U.S. Marine Robert Gilman On Humanitarian Grounds

Russia released former U.S. Marine Robert Gilman, 32, from detention on Tuesday after Vladimir Putin approved a pardon on humanitarian grounds, Donald Trump said.

“Russia on Tuesday freed a former American Marine who had been jailed in the country since 2022, U.S. President Donald Trump said.”

Reuters

Trump wrote that “Russia has agreed to release him, very much on a Humanitarian Basis,” and said no exchange took place as Gilman was being transported to Washington DC.

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U.S. officials said Gilman was being held in a prison in Voronezh, about 340 miles (550 kilometers) south of Moscow, and that his exact health circumstances were unclear.

Eric Lebson of Global Reach told Reuters that in late June Gilman was moved from the prison hospital to the psychiatric ward of a civilian emergency hospital in a catatonic-like state assessed as a “dissociative stupor.”

U.S. officials said Gilman was on a State Department plane carrying him from Russia to Washington Dulles Airport, and a U.S. official who spoke to Gilman said he was walking and talking.

Reuters reported that Gilman would be evaluated on the flight by four doctors, and that his mother, Nina, was also on board.

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Trump said he had spoken to Gilman and that Gilman requested a cheeseburger upon landing, with Trump saying, “I will take care of that!”

The White House and the State Department had urged Moscow to release Gilman so he could receive medical treatment in the United States, and Reuters said Putin’s pardon was approved for humanitarian purposes given Putin’s friendship with the president.

U.S. officials said the release resulted from intense negotiations over the weekend by U.S. and Russian officials, and they said the U.S. did not exchange any Russian prisoners to gain Gilman’s freedom.

““We appreciate this decision, and the fact that Russia asked for no one in return — No exchange took place.””

Reuters

Trump emphasized on social media that “No exchange took place,” and Reuters quoted a U.S. official calling it “It’s a goodwill gesture.”

After arriving at Dulles, Gilman was expected to be greeted by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and deputy national security adviser Sebastian Gorka, and then flown to a rehabilitation center in San Antonio, Texas.

The State Department spokesperson said Gilman had been recently designated as wrongfully detained and that it was hoped another American with the same designation, Stephen Hubbard, would be released along with other Americans “unjustly held in Russia,” with Hubbard sentenced in October 2024 to almost seven years after a court found him guilty of serving in a Ukrainian territorial defense unit against Russian forces.