Conflict · Putin pardon · ArchiveRussia Frees US Marine Robert Gilman After 4 Years in Putin PardonAired August 11, 2026 at 5:51 PM UTCWritten September 7, 2026 at 9:22 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:00Russia freed former US Marine Robert0:02Gilman on Tuesday, [music] August 11th,0:042026, ending 4 years of detention that0:07began in 2022 after President Vladimir0:10Putin approved a humanitarian pardon.0:12Robert Gilman is a former US Marine from0:14Lowell, Massachusetts. By Tuesday0:16morning, he was aboard a State0:17Department plane flying from Russia to0:19Washington Dulles Airport for evaluation0:21after the pardon. The 4-year case turned0:23in late June when he was moved from a0:25prison hospital to the psychiatric ward0:27of a civilian emergency hospital in0:29southwestern Russia. That transfer a0:31catatonic-like state assessed as0:33dissociative stupor. That medical0:35assessment directly [music] conflicts0:37with how he was described on the0:38repatriation flight. The family0:40described a life-threatening near0:41catatonic condition. The official on the0:43flight said he seems [music] to be in0:45good shape. Those accounts leave his0:46true condition unresolved while a team0:48of doctors evaluates him on the plane.0:56Doctors are with him now on the State0:58Department flight to Washington Dulles,1:00conducting the first independent1:01evaluation since that late June1:03psychiatric transfer. The State1:04Department flight that left Russia1:06Tuesday morning is carrying him to1:08Washington Dulles. Broader independent1:10confirmation of the details surrounding1:12the release is still pending.1:19Whether that inflated evaluation can1:21stabilize a man who weeks earlier could1:23not respond will determine immediate1:25care on landing. Five other Americans1:27remain listed as wrongfully detained in1:29Russia. And what his release means for1:31their cases is now the central question.1:33For more stories that matter, like and1:35subscribe.Explore with HeyDexThe shortThe short ↗