Reuters: U.S. asks Russia to release imprisoned former Marine Robert Gilman; his family fears he is near death
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio pressed for the release of former U.S. Marine Robert Gilman, who has been convicted in Russia, during a July 23 meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the Philippines, Reuters reported, citing sources.
The source could not say how Lavrov responded.
Eric Lebson, chief strategy officer of the advocacy group Global Reach, which represents the interests of Gilman’s family, said the White House and the U.S. State Department have both called on Moscow to release the former Marine. The family is worried about his condition: Gilman has allegedly been tortured and given injections of mind-altering drugs, and relatives say he has been in a dissociative stupor since June. Lebson said Gilman is now being fed through a tube, and his sister believes he may be dying.
A senior Trump administration official said the administration is “closely tracking” Gilman’s case and has “has made repeated, concerted outreach to the Russians calling for his return to the United States.” The State Department announced in a statement that it is “deeply concerned” about Gilman’s health.
Robert Gilman, now 32, was detained in Voronezh in January 2022 and accused of fighting with a police officer at a train station. He was sentenced to four and a half years in prison on a charge of using violence against a government official, later reduced by one year. While serving his sentence, he reportedly clashed with staff at Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service and was accused of disrupting the prison’s operations, a charge that increased his sentence to 10 years. In July 2026, the Russian business daily Kommersant reported that Gilman had been transferred to a hospital.
Gilman is one of at least 10 Americans currently held in Russia, according to Reuters. In May 2025, the agency published a list of nine U.S. citizens Washington hoped to see returned as part of a possible exchange with Moscow. Gilman was among them.
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