US Marine veteran released from detainment in Russia, on way to military hospital
A U.S. Marine veteran who was detained in Russia has been released, officials said Tuesday.
Advocates of Robert Gilman, 31, of Massachusetts, alleged he was on the brink of death because of years of physical and physiological torture that he has been subjected to in prison.
Gilman, who was detained in 2022, had fallen into “a dissociative stupor,” or a “catatonic state,” according to Kieran Ramsey, Chief Investigative Officer for Global Reach, an advocacy organization representing his family that works to bring home those who are kidnapped or wrongfully detained abroad.
The concerns over Gilman’s health prompted the U.S. State Department to up its efforts to have him released, according to a spokesperson from the State Department.
The White House negotiated a humanitarian release, according to source directly involved in the matter. Gilman is non-ambulatory but verbal, sources said.
It took the President’s Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff, with a direct request from President Donald Trump to facilitate the release, the source said. He’ll be transported to Washington, D.C., and then to a military hospital for treatment.
According to Global Reach and other organizations which have advocated on his behalf in the past, Gilman was on his way to Moldova, when he became violently ill at the Moscow airport. Because he became so ill, he went to stay with an extended family member. Gilman, advocates said, then became sick a second time as he was going to the U.S. Embassy where he then was met by police.
“Russian police encountered him, heard him speaking Russian with an American accent, immediately approached him, hit him with a baton,” Ramsey said, further calling the charges “bogus” and a geopolitical power play.
According to CNN, the Russians alleged that he was drunk and got into an altercation with a police officer. Global Reach denies this, stating that Gilman was hit by the police, became sick, and accidentally kicked the officer.
He had remained in a Russian prison since then. However, nearly seven weeks ago in June, Gilman fell into an unresponsive state. According to Ramsey, his brain is overwhelmed by the abuse he has suffered in prison, and thus, his body has essentially shut down.
He was moved from the prison hospital to a civilian hospital, and last week, Global Reach was alerted that he had a 102-degree fever, severe hypertension, and life-threatening high blood pressure.
Gilman’s family still resides in Dracut. His mother has flown to Russia in an effort to try to get to her son, has since not been allowed to see him, Ramsey said.
Advocates were concerned that Gilman could end up like Otto Warmbier, the American college student arrested and detained in North Korea in 2016, before he was eventually released while he was in a coma with severe brain damage. He died shortly thereafter.
Ramsey said upwards of 10 Americans are currently detained in Russia; he represents five, including Gilman.
