Marine Robert Gilman Freed After 1,666 Days in Russian Custody, Trump and Putin Cut the Deal

Robert Gilman spent 1,666 days in Russian prison. He's out now.

Gilman, 32, was arrested January 17, 2022, weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine. He was teaching English at the time. Russian authorities charged him with kicking a police officer while drunk, a charge his family has disputed from the start, according to Colorado Politics.

His health had been deteriorating for months. Reports emerged that he was "unresponsive" and "at risk of dying" from mistreatment in custody, according to the Senate Democratic Caucus. The situation prompted action.

Putin issued a personal pardon on humanitarian grounds, U.S. officials told Reuters. Gilman was flown to Dulles International Airport, where Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Deputy National Security Adviser Sebastian Gorka met him. From there he was headed to a military hospital in Texas for medical and psychological evaluation, according to Eric Lebson, chief strategy officer at Global Reach, the advocacy group that worked Gilman's case.

Who gets the credit

Gilman's sister, Lexie Hudson, didn't split hairs. "I am so grateful to President Trump for saving my brother's life," she said in a statement released through Global Reach. "There is no other reason that Robert is alive today other than that President Trump heard about the case and took action."

She also thanked Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), saying he and his staff were "personally involved in Robert's case." A Democratic senator received direct credit from the family in the same breath as Trump.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on X that Gilman is one of more than 100 Americans imprisoned abroad whom Trump has freed as president. Rubio had personally raised Gilman's case with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during a June meeting in Manila. Rubio, Jared Kushner, and hostage response envoy Adam Boehler were also named as lead negotiators, per Colorado Politics.

Rubio thanked Russia for "working with Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to release Mr. Gilman," calling it a "positive step" while noting the U.S. is "seeking the immediate return of all other unjustly detained Americans, including wrongful detainee Stephen Hubbard."

Six Americans still locked up

Gilman's release doesn't close the book. Six Americans remain in Russian custody, according to The Hill, as cited by Just the News. Global Reach identified five of them with health issues: Aleksandr Antonov, David Barnes, Olga Jezler, Andre Khachaturian and others whose cases are less publicly known.

A formal "wrongful detainee" designation under the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act carries real weight. It triggers additional legal protections and gives U.S. negotiators more leverage. Right now, at least five of those Americans lack that designation, according to the Senate Democratic Caucus.

Senate Democrats are pushing on this issue. Sixteen Senate Democrats, led by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, sent a letter to Rubio this week demanding the administration escalate efforts and speed up those designations. Signers included Patty Murray, Mark Warner, Elizabeth Warren, Adam Schiff, and Markey himself, among others.

Their core concern, stated in the letter: don't let these Americans become bargaining chips in the broader U.S.-Russia relationship. "We are deeply concerned that tying the fate of these Americans and their families to broader issues in the U.S.-Russia relationship and deferring their designation as wrongful detainees merely prolongs their hardship," the senators wrote.

If Washington links prisoner releases to Ukraine peace negotiations, families of the remaining detainees could be stuck waiting on a war that's dragged on for years with no clean end in sight. Trump promised during his campaign to end the Ukraine war within 24 hours of taking office. That deadline passed a long time ago, and the war continues, as Just the News noted.

But the administration's own record suggests it is not slow-walking these cases. Gilman got out. Rubio raised his case directly with Russia's foreign minister two months before the release. Witkoff, Kushner, Boehler and Gorka all had hands on this negotiation. Whatever the process looks like behind closed doors, it produced a result for one American already this year, and Rubio says Trump has freed more than 100 detained Americans total during his presidency.

No administration official has said the remaining six will be tied to Ukraine talks. Rubio's own public statement calls for their "immediate return," full stop, with no conditions attached. The Democrats' letter is a demand for clarity and speed, not evidence of a documented policy linking hostage releases to war negotiations.

What happens next depends on whether Rubio's State Department responds to Schumer's letter and whether any of the remaining six, especially Stephen Hubbard, get the formal wrongful detainee designation. That paperwork question is the one concrete lever available to families still waiting.