Robert Gilman is on his way home!

This is huge news, and I didn’t feel it could wait for my regular Sunday post on the hostage situation.

Gilman — who was working in Russia as a teacher of English — was arrested in 2022 for allegedly hitting a Russian police officer. He was reportedly ill at the time, and most likely struck the officer accidentally when thrashing around. But he was tried and sentenced to 4-1/2 years in prison, with a later extension of the sentence to ten years.

During his imprisonment in Voronezh, some 340 miles south of Moscow, Gilman’s health has declined steadily due to constant physical and mental abuse. Nearly two months ago, he was transferred from the prison to a psychiatric hospital in what was described as a catatonic-like state of dissociative stupor. In the hospital, he was being fed via a tube inserted through his nose. [Steve Holland and Jonathan Landay, Reuters, August 11, 2026.]

Recent reports that he appeared to be near death finally led to an agreement by Russian President Vladimir Putin to release Gilman on humanitarian grounds, so that he could receive treatment in the United States. And as of this writing, he is aboard a U.S. State Department plane along with his mother and four doctors, en route to Washington, where he will be greeted by special envoy Steve Witkoff and deputy national security adviser Sebastian Gorka, who are said to have been instrumental in obtaining his release, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and others.

Despite his recent physical and mental deterioration, a U.S. official who spoke to him following his release said that he was walking and talking, and that, “All things considered he seems to be in good shape.” [Id.] It is expected that he will be receiving medical treatment at a rehabilitation center in San Antonio, Texas.

So, welcome home, Robert Gilman, at long last. We wish you a speedy recovery, and a long and happy future.

*. *. *

That, of course, is the good news. What is unacceptable, in addition to the fact that he and so many others were falsely imprisoned in the first place, is the treatment of these political prisoners at the hands of Putin’s prison officials. There are still an estimated eight to ten Americans being wrongfully held in Russia; and they are the reason I continue my weekly vigil.

But what is particularly worrisome is a statement by Yuri Ushakov, former Russian Ambassador to the United States and now senior foreign policy adviser to Putin, who informed Trump administration officials last week that Putin had agreed to sign a decree pardoning Gilman “for humanitarian purposes, given Putin’s friendship with the president [Trump].” [Id.] [Bold emphasis is mine.]

Therein lies the problem: Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump are not supposed to be friends. But Trump prefers leaders he sees as being “strong men” — tyrants like Putin, Xi Jinping, Kim Jong Un, and Mohammed bin Salman — over America’s real allies, whom he dismisses as weak and ineffective.

And that, to put it mildly, is terrifying.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
8/11/26