Russia has released an American military veteran who spent more than four years in prison under abusive conditions and was said to be gravely ill and at risk of dying, a group advocating for him said Tuesday.
Robert Gilman is on his way to a U.S. military hospital in Texas, where he will be medically and psychologically assessed and treated, said Eric Lebson, chief strategy officer of Global Reach. The group has been working to free him and other American detainees abroad.
Gilman’s family has flown to Texas to be with him, including his mother, who was in Russia attempting to see him at the hospital, the group said in a statement.
“I am so grateful to President Trump for saving my brother’s life. There is no other reason that Robert is alive today other than that President Trump heard about the case and took action,” Gilman’s sister Lexie Hudson said.
Gilman, a 32-year-old teacher detained since 2022, was initially handed a 3 1/2-year sentence in 2022 when he was convicted of beating a police officer after being taken off a train for causing a disturbance.
He later was convicted of attacking a prison inspector during a cell check, beating an investigator and assaulting a guard, and he was sentenced in October 2024 to eight years and one month. His sentence was extended last year to 10 years after he was found guilty of assaulting prison guards.
Before he was flown out of Russia, he had been in “a dissociative stupor” for 47 days due to the abuse he has suffered in prison, Lebson said. Gilman had been moved from a prison to a civilian hospital, where he was hooked up to a feeding tube and handcuffed to a bed.
Lebson told CBS News last week that Russian authorities had subjected Gilman to mistreatment, including harassment, forced exercise sessions lasting up to 16 hours and the administration of psychotropic drugs. Lebson also alleged Gilman was pressured to fight in Ukraine.
Lebson said Tuesday that it’s “too early to know Robert’s long-term medical prognosis” and that his family “has asked for space while they reunite with Robert and work to support his recovery.”
Sen. Edward Markey had called on Russia and the U.S. to work together to get the Massachusetts resident released. Gilman was one of at least eight Americans who remain in Russian custody after a series of high-profile prisoner exchanges with the U.S. in recent years.
A State Department spokesperson told CBS News last week that given Gilman’s health concerns, the Trump administration “has raised his case repeatedly with the Russian government and has requested his release on humanitarian grounds.”
The spokesperson said the U.S. was “deeply concerned about Robert Gilman’s health and continued detention in Russia.”
Olivia Gazis and
contributed to this report.
