Russia released Robert Gilman, a 32-year-old former US Marine and teacher, on August 11 after more than four years in custody. He was flown to the United States and was due to undergo medical and psychological assessment at a US military hospital in Texas.
US President Donald Trump said he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin about Gilman's release and that Moscow sought no one in return. Under the US account, the action was a unilateral humanitarian release rather than a reciprocal transfer of detainees. Russian officials did not immediately comment or publish their own account of the terms.
The announced release did not include a prisoner exchange
Prisoner exchanges require each side to release or transfer someone under an agreed arrangement. In Gilman's case, Trump said no exchange took place, and the reports reviewed by APPI News identified no Russian national released by the United States in return.
That distinction does not disclose the legal instrument Russia used to free Gilman or establish whether any unpublished understandings existed. APPI News could not locate a public Russian decree explaining the release at the time of writing.
Gilman's sentence rose from 3.5 years to 10 years
Russian authorities detained Gilman in 2022 after he was removed from a train for causing a disturbance and accused of hitting a police officer. A Russian court convicted him and imposed an initial sentence of 3.5 years.
Gilman was later convicted of attacking a prison inspector, an investigator and a guard, raising his sentence to eight years and one month in October 2024; another conviction involving prison guards extended it to 10 years in December 2025. Russian media said he pleaded guilty and apologized to guards, while his father disputed the charges and the US State Department determined that he was wrongfully detained, according to the Associated Press.
Health details came from his lawyer and family advocates
Gilman's lawyer, Irina Brazhnikova, told the Russian news agency Interfax that he had been in the psychiatric ward of a civilian hospital since early July and that doctors said his condition had worsened. She said neither his lawyers nor his family had been allowed to visit him.
Eric Lebson, an official with Global Reach, an advocacy organization working with Gilman's family, gave a more detailed account. Lebson said Gilman had spent 47 days in a dissociative stupor, received nutrition through a tube and was handcuffed to a hospital bed. Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service did not answer an Associated Press request for comment on his deteriorating health.
US Senator Edward Markey alleged that Russian authorities had subjected Gilman to physical torture, forced medication and deliberate provocation. Russian authorities had not responded publicly to those allegations in the reports reviewed, and APPI News could not independently verify them.
A post-release assessment had not been made public
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted a photograph showing Gilman aboard an aircraft with relatives after his release, and Lebson said Gilman would be taken to a military hospital in Texas. The planned care included medical and psychological assessment and treatment.
No results from that assessment were public in the sources reviewed for this article. The available descriptions of Gilman's condition therefore reflect statements made before or during his release, not a published diagnosis following his return to the United States.
