Arabic version: روسيا تفرج عن المارينز السابق روبرت غيلمان

According to BBC News, Russia has released former US Marine Robert Gilman, who had been held in a Russian prison and was reported to be in extremely poor health. President Donald Trump said Russia agreed to free Gilman on a “Humanitarian Basis” following his discussions with President Vladimir Putin, and said no prisoner swap took place.

Trump said the 32-year-old was travelling back to the United States with his mother, doctors and members of the administration. Gilman is expected to later arrive at a US military hospital in Texas for assessment and treatment, his family said.

Gilman’s family said his health had reached a “life-threatening condition” after what it described as harsh and abusive treatment. His sister, Lexi Hudson, said Russia had treated her brother badly because he was American and a Marine, and thanked Trump for saving his life. She also said Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey helped secure the release.

Markey said Gilman was diagnosed about 50 days earlier with dissociative stupor, a condition in which a person is non-responsive and unable to interact or eat. Eric Lebson of the advocacy group Global Reach told CBS News that Gilman faced repeated harassment in confinement, including exercise sessions lasting up to 16 hours and psychotropic drugs. Lebson said Gilman at one point required a feeding tube.

Gilman served in the US Marines from August 2019 to August 2020. He was arrested in January 2022 after allegedly kicking a police officer while drunk on a train to Moscow and initially received a three-and-a-half-year sentence. After he was found guilty of assaulting prison guards, following an allegation that he attacked a prison inspector during a cell check, his sentence was increased to 10 years. Lebson said five other Americans remain in Russia and are contending with medical issues.