Family of Former U.S. Marine Imprisoned in Russia Warns He Is ‘Near Death’ After Alleged Torture

Aug. 11, 2026 Former U.S. Marine Robert Gilman. REUTERS / Vladimir Lavrov The family of Robert Gilman, a former U.S. Marine and English teacher imprisoned in Russia, is appealing to Russian authorities for his release, warning that he is near death following months of alleged torture in jail. “The treatment that [Gilman] has suffered at the hands of the Russian prison guards has been far worse than anything else we have seen before,” Kieran Ramsey, chief investigator of the hostage advocacy group Global Reach, told PBS Newshour on Monday. Reuters reported last week that Gilman had slipped into a state assessed as “dissociative stupor” in late June and was transferred from a prison hospital to the psychiatric ward at a civilian hospital in the southern city of Voronezh. Global Outreach said Gilman has been unable to communicate, his eyes remain shut and he is being fed through a feeding tube. Ramsey said the organization receives updates on Gilman through his family and the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. Gilman’s lawyer Irina Brazhnikova confirmed to Russian media that he has been held in a psychiatric ward at a civilian hospital since early July. The hospital has reportedly barred Gilman’s mother from visiting him despite a court order allowing her to do so. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was said to have raised Gilman’s imprisonment with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during a meeting in the Philippines last month. It remains unclear whether Russia is willing to release him. Ramsey said the U.S. State Department fears that classifying Gilman and several other Americans held in Russian prison as subjects of wrongful detention would “raise the cost in securing their release.” “We’re literally on an hour-by-hour basis hoping that Mr. Gilman hangs on and that we can secure for him some kind of lifesaving medical evacuation out of Russia,” Ramsey told PBS Newshour. Gilman, 32, was arrested in January 2022 in Voronezh after an incident in which he was accused of assaulting a police officer. A court sentenced him to two years in prison that October. In December, a judge in Voronezh handed him an additional eight-year prison sentence for allegedly attacking guards at the correctional facility where he was being held. Gilman is among at least eight U.S. citizens jailed in Russia whom the Trump administration is trying to have released. Read more about: United States , Prisoners Sign up for our free weekly newsletter Our weekly newsletter contains a hand-picked selection of news, features, analysis and more from The Moscow Times. You will receive it in your mailbox every Friday. Never miss the latest news from Russia. Preview Subscribers agree to the Privacy Policy We sent a confirmation to your email. Please confirm your subscription. A Message from The Moscow Times: Dear readers, We are facing unprecedented challenges. 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