Russia has released an American military veteran who spent more than four years in prison on disputed charges under abusive conditions, advocacy group Global Reach said Tuesday. Robert Gilman, 32, was on his way to a US military hospital in Texas for medical and psychological assessment and treatment.
Gilman was detained in 2022 after being taken off a train for causing a disturbance. He was initially convicted of beating a police officer and handed a 3½-year sentence. He was later convicted of attacking a prison inspector, beating an investigator and assaulting a guard, and received an eight-year-one-month sentence in October 2024. His sentence was extended to 10 years after he was found guilty of assaulting prison guards.
Before his release, Gilman had been in "a dissociative stupor" for 47 days due to abuse suffered in prison, said Eric Lebson, chief strategy officer of Global Reach. Gilman had been moved to a civilian hospital where he was on a feeding tube and handcuffed to a bed. Hospital reports conveyed his condition "as dire and life-threatening", Lebson said.
The State Department said Gilman had been determined to have been wrongfully detained and was released on humanitarian grounds. "He was not part of an exchange, and no other concessions were provided," the department said. Gilman was among at least eight Americans remaining in Russian custody.
Gilman's sister, Lexie Hudson, credited President Donald Trump and US Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts with bringing about the release. Markey blamed Russia for Gilman's poor health, saying his treatment included "physical torture, forced medication, and provocations by Russian authorities."
