US Marine veteran imprisoned in Russia on the verge of death: 'Unable to communicate, receiving food through a tube'
Robert Gilman, a 32-year-old American imprisoned in Russia since 2022, has been transferred to a psychiatric hospital in a catatonic-like state and is receiving fluids through a tube. His family claims he was tortured and injected with mind-altering substances, and the US is calling on Moscow to release him for fear his fate will mirror that of Otto Warmbier.
Former US Marine Robert Gilman, who has been imprisoned in Russia since 2022, is hospitalized in extremely serious condition and may be near death. This was claimed on Thursday by his sister and two American organizations working for the release of hostages.
According to the organizations, Gilman was allegedly tortured in prison and injected with mind-altering substances, and in June he fell into a state of unresponsiveness. Gilman is one of at least ten American citizens known to be imprisoned in Russia. The White House and the US State Department have repeatedly appealed to Russia demanding the release of the 32-year-old Gilman so that he can receive urgent medical treatment in the United States.
Eric Levinson, a senior official at the Global Reach organization representing his family, stated that Gilman is unable to eat on his own and is being fed through a tube. 'We are very afraid that we will see another case like that of Otto Warmbier,' said Levinson, referring to the American student who died in 2017 after being returned from North Korea in a coma.
A source familiar with the details told the Reuters news agency that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio raised Gilman's case in a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Manila on July 23. The source did not know how Lavrov responded to the request.
'I am more afraid for my brother than ever since this terrible nightmare began,' said his sister, Lexi Hudson. 'I am afraid that I will never see him again if the Russians do not release him.' A senior official in the Donald Trump administration said the administration is 'closely monitoring Gilman's case and has repeatedly and in a coordinated manner approached the Russians with a demand to return him to the US.'
According to Levinson, the Russian hospital where Gilman is hospitalized is preventing his mother from visiting him, even though she has a court order allowing her to see her son. American consular representatives and his Russian lawyer were also not allowed to enter the hospital.
Gilman was held in a prison in Voronezh. At the end of June, he was transferred from the prison hospital to the psychiatric ward of a civilian hospital after falling into a catatonic-like state diagnosed as 'dissociative stupor,' a condition characterized by a profound decrease in voluntary movement and response to external stimuli.
Gilman, who served in the US Marine Corps from 2019 to 2020, was arrested on January 17, 2022, while traveling on a train. Russia claims he kicked a policeman while drunk. His family maintains the incident was accidental and resulted in no injuries, yet Gilman was sentenced to a lengthy prison term. Subsequently, in October 2024 and December 2025, his sentence was extended following accusations of assaulting prison staff. His family argues that these incidents were the result of severe abuse, torture, and forced medication, intended to turn him into a bargaining chip in future prisoner exchange deals.
