President Trump Praises Russia's Release of Former US Marine Robert Gilman

Robert Gilman. (Mikhail Sergeyev/TASS)

JAKARTA - President Donald Trump praised Russia's move to release ailing former US Marine Robert Gilman from custody.

In a social media post on Tuesday, President Trump said Russia would release the former US Marine who has been detained since 2022.

He said the approval of the release was based on humanitarian grounds after talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

President Trump estimated Gilman would arrive at Joint Base Andrews near Washington on Tuesday night local time.

"I am proud to announce that American citizen Robert Gilman, a former United States Marine, will be COMING HOME!" President Trump wrote, as reported by Al Arabiya from Reuters (12/8).

"We appreciate this decision, as well as the fact that Russia did not ask for any compensation - no exchange took place," he continued.

The White House and the State Department have previously urged Moscow to free Gilman so that he could receive medical treatment in the United States. US officials said President Putin had agreed to grant him a pardon.

Gilman was previously held in a prison in Voronezh, which is located about 340 miles (550 kilometers) south of Moscow. His exact health condition is not known.

However, Eric Lebson - head of strategy at Global Reach, an advocacy group representing the Gilman family - told Reuters last week that by the end of June, Gilman had been moved from the prison hospital to a psychiatric ward in a civilian emergency hospital. At that time, he was in a state resembling catatonia, which was judged to be "dissociative stupor."

An American official who spoke to Gilman said the man was able to walk and talk.

"Given all the circumstances, the condition seems good," the official said.

Trump's post included a photo of a man with a thin face on the plane, surrounded by a group of smiling people carrying American flags. The president said he had spoken to Gilman, who had asked for a cheeseburger as soon as he landed.

"I'll take care of it!" President Trump said.

Gilman will be examined during the flight by four doctors, according to US officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

After that, he will likely be flown to a rehabilitation center in San Antonio, Texas, for medical treatment, officials said.

It is known that Gilman, who served in the US Marine Corps from August 2019 to August 2020, was traveling by train when he was arrested in January 2022 in Voronezh, Lebson said.

According to Russian government media, he was detained for allegedly kicking a police officer while drunk.

However, his father, Vladimir Gilman - who emigrated from Russia to Massachusetts - wrote in an op-ed in the Boston Globe in October 2024 that the allegations were not true.

He said his son was ill when the incident occurred and accidentally kicked the officer. The officer was not injured, withdrew his claim, and did not present evidence in Gilman's trial, he wrote.

Gilman was later sentenced to 4.5 years in prison. He is one of at least 10 Americans known to be imprisoned in Russia.

US officials said a senior Russian official, Yuri Ushakov, told President Trump's staff last week, President Putin had agreed to sign a decree of pardon for Gilman on humanitarian grounds, given the friendship of the two leaders.

The release was the result of intensive negotiations over the weekend between US and Russian officials.

The United States did not exchange Russian prisoners to obtain Gilman's release and no concessions were made, officials said.

"This is a gesture of goodwill," one of the officials said.

President Trump thanked US envoy Steve Witkoff, senior director of counterterrorism Sebastian Gorka, his son-in-law Jared Kushner, and US special envoy for hostage negotiations Adam Boehler for their role in securing the release.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Gilman was among the 100 US citizens whose freedom President Trump successfully fought for during his second term.

Secretary of State Rubio said the US appreciated the "positive step", but also urged the release of other US citizens who he said were unjustly detained in Russia, including Stephen Hubbard.

Hubbard, a retired teacher, was sentenced to almost seven years in prison in an institution (a penal colony) in October 2024 after the court found him guilty of serving in a Ukrainian territorial defense unit to fight Russian forces, with the task of guarding checkpoints. He denies this charge.