Ex-Marine Robert Gilman, Freed by Russia After 4 Years in Prison, Arrives in the U.S.

Robert Gilman, an American who was released after spending more than four years in a Russian prison, arrived in the United States late Tuesday, two Trump administration officials said.

President Trump had announced the release of Mr. Gilman, a former Marine, on social media earlier on Tuesday, saying that it was secured after discussions with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. The Russian government released Mr. Gilman on a humanitarian basis and “asked for no one in return,” Mr. Trump wrote.

Mr. Gilman arrived in the United States late Tuesday, Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s special envoy, and Sebastian Gorka, a senior counterterrorism official in the National Security Council, said in separate posts on social media. There was no immediate public comment from the Kremlin about Mr. Gilman’s release.

Mr. Gilman, a Massachusetts resident, had been imprisoned in Voronezh, Russia, since early in 2022, when a court convicted him of assaulting a police officer and ultimately sentenced him to 10 years in prison. His health had significantly deteriorated since then, according to his family and a statement from Global Reach, a nonprofit organization representing Mr. Gilman and other Americans wrongly held abroad.

He was in a dire state when he was recently transferred to a Russian civilian hospital, prompting his family and the State Department to call for his release on humanitarian grounds.

For many weeks, according to Global Reach, Mr. Gilman had been in a “dissociative stupor,” in which a patient is unresponsive without an apparent physical cause. Mr. Gilman is expected to be taken to a military hospital in Texas for medical and psychological evaluations, his advocates said.

“It is too early to know Robert’s long-term medical prognosis,” said Eric Lebson, chief strategy officer of the advocacy group.

Mr. Gilman’s family and Global Reach have accused the Russian authorities of detaining him for political purposes and severely abusing him.

In a Global Reach statement on Tuesday, Lexie Hudson, Mr. Gilman’s sister, accused Russia of hurting him “for no reason, other than that he was both and American and a Marine.” She expressed gratitude to Mr. Trump for her brother’s release, crediting him with saving his life.

Mr. Gilman’s parents originally moved from Russia to Dracut, Mass., his father, Vladimir Gilman, wrote in a 2024 Boston Globe article. Robert Gilman was born in Poland and raised in Massachusetts, later serving in the Marines. He traveled to Moldova in early 2022 to explore a teaching opportunity but fell ill while transiting through Russia and decided to recuperate there, his father wrote.

While on a train, Mr. Gilman fell ill and was taken to a local police station, where, his father wrote, he accidentally kicked a police officer. He was initially sentenced to four and a half years in a penal colony.

“This event would normally result in a fine or a suspended sentence, if anything,” his father wrote in 2024. “But Robert was singled out because he is an American.”

Last year, the sentence was extended to a decade in prison, after the authorities said Mr. Gilman had assaulted prison staff and an investigator, according to Russian news agencies.

Mr. Trump’s statement on Tuesday suggested that the former Marine’s health may have improved. .

“I just spoke to him, and he had one request — A GREAT cheeseburger when he lands,” Mr. Trump said. “I will take care of that!”

The State Department on Tuesday thanked Russia for working with Mr. Witkoff on Mr. Gilman’s release. “While we appreciate this positive step, we are still seeking the immediate return of all other unjustly detained Americans, including wrongful detainee Stephen Hubbard,” it said in a statement.

Mr. Hubbard, a retired American teacher, was taken from his home in eastern Ukraine by Russian soldiers shortly after Russia invaded in February 2022. He was located in a Russian prison last year. Mr. Hubbard, who is in his 70s, was accused by Russia of working at military checkpoints and fighting for Ukraine. He was convicted of being a mercenary and sentenced to almost seven years in a penal colony.

Global Reach, in its statement on Tuesday, noted that there were five additional Americans being held in Russia, saying “it is critical that the administration uses the momentum of Robert’s release” to bring them home.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted the State Department statement about Mr. Gillman’s release on social media, along with an image showing the former Marine on his flight. Wearing a cap, he looked emaciated, pale and haggard, but was smiling and surrounded by a people in the airplane’s aisle holding an American flag.

“The President will not stop until all unjustly detained Americans are home,” Mr. Rubio said.

Isabella Kwai and Qasim Nauman contributed reporting.