Story by Joe Smith
A former US Marine and English teacher imprisoned in Russia has been freed after his family said he was “near death”.
Robert Gilman, 32, was arrested in January 2022 in Voronezh, about 340 miles south of Moscow, after an incident in which he was accused of assaulting a police officer.
Vladimir Putin has approved a pardon for the ailing American for humanitarian reasons, US officials said.
A court sentenced him to two years in prison in October 2022 but in December a judge handed him an additional eight-year sentence for allegedly attacking guards at the jail where he was being held.
The exact circumstances of his health are unclear but his family have previously appealed to the Russian authorities for his release, stating he was “near death” following months of alleged torture.
Robert Gilman© Family Handout
Now US officials have said that Gilman is on a plane today, headed from Russia to Washington Dulles Airport. Officials said Gilman was walking and talking.
He was accompanied on the State Department plane by four doctors, who will evaluate his health. His mother, Nina, is also on board.
US envoy Steve Witkoff is due to meet Gilman upon arrival at Dulles, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and other officials.
He will then board another flight to San Antonio, Texas, where he is due to enter a rehabilitation centre for medical treatment. Moscow has not commented on reports of his release.
In June it was reported that he had been transferred to a psychiatric ward at a civilian hospital in Voronezh after he fell into a “dissociative stupor” following abuse at the hands of prison guards.
During his time at the ward he was hooked up to a feeding tube and handcuffed to a bed, according to Eric Lebson, chief strategy officer of Global Reach, a group that’s been working to free him and other American detainees abroad.
Gilman was one of at least eight Americans who remain in Russian custody after a series of high-profile prisoner exchanges with the US in recent years.
