Secretary of State Marco Rubio raised the case of detained former U.S. Marine Robert Gilman during a July 23 meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in the Philippines, Reuters reported, citing sources. Lavrov's response was not disclosed.
The White House and State Department have also urged Moscow to return Gilman, according to the agency. A senior Trump administration official said Washington is "closely monitoring" Gilman's case and has "repeatedly made concerted efforts in contacts with the Russian side." The State Department said it is "deeply concerned" about the American's health.
Gilman's family fears he may be near death. Eric Lebson, strategy director for the human rights organization Global Reach, who represents the family, said that since June Gilman has been in a dissociative stupor — a condition in which a person becomes partially or completely immobile. He is now fed through a tube and his eyes remain closed. Because of his condition, he cannot participate in court hearings.
Human rights advocates allege that in the penal colony Gilman was held in harsh conditions, subjected to torture and injections of psychoactive drugs, which ultimately led to his transfer to a psychiatric ward of a civilian hospital in Voronezh. Neither the U.S. consul general nor his lawyer was allowed to visit him there.
Robert Gilman was detained in Voronezh in January 2022. He was accused of fighting with a police officer at a train station and sentenced to 4.5 years in a penal colony, later reduced to 3.5 years. In autumn 2024, he was additionally sentenced to seven years in a strict-regime colony for attacks on Federal Penitentiary Service employees and an investigator, bringing his total sentence to 10 years. According to Reuters, Gilman is one of at least ten Americans held in Russian prisons.