The long-awaited release of U.S. Marine veteran Robert Gilman from Russian custody earlier this month has brought his family a long-desired homecoming, but it has also cast a harsh new spotlight on the plight of dozens of other American detainees still held in Russian prisons, many of whom are battling untreated health conditions in substandard correctional healthcare systems.
As Harold Jezler, whose wife Olga has been detained in Russia since 2022, watched media coverage of Gilman’s return, the 36-year-old’s gaunt, visibly unwell appearance struck a nerve. Jezler, who already waits anxiously for updates on Olga’s progressing endometriosis, says Gilman’s condition raised alarming questions about how the U.S. prioritizes detainee releases. “You just look at the pictures and the guy is not in good shape. It’s concerning for me and for all the families, I would imagine,” Jezler told The Associated Press in an interview. “Is this what it takes for the government to really make a move and prioritize this — that the person is basically in dire straits? It was a very bittersweet thing to see that.”
Gilman is only the latest American to be released from Russian custody in a years-long string of prisoner exchanges and negotiated releases. But his freedom has done nothing to resolve the crisis of the dozens of Americans still behind bars there. Advocates and family members report that many of the remaining detainees are living with serious, unmanaged medical conditions, receiving inadequate care that has amplified urgency for renewed diplomatic action to bring them home.
Among those still detained are a Navy veteran living with chronic gastrointestinal illness, a man with a life-altering autoimmune disease, another detainee with severe, untreated dental damage, and Olga Jezler, who was diagnosed with endometriosis after her 2022 arrest. Olga traveled to Russia to visit her sister, who was battling cancer, and was detained on charges of possessing legally permitted CBD capsules. Her condition has progressed, with a growth on her ovary steadily expanding; her family fears Russian medical providers will opt to fully remove the ovary rather than pursue fertility-sparing treatment that would standard in the U.S., permanently ending her chance to have children. The couple recently marked their seventh wedding anniversary, the fifth they have spent apart. “She’s been there way over half our marriage,” Harold Jezler lamented.
Eric Lebson, chief strategy officer for Global Reach — an organization that advocates for hostages and detainees and represents multiple Americans jailed in Russia — says there is no excuse for waiting until detainees are on the brink of death to prioritize their release. “These are American citizens who are innocent of violations of Russian law. They’re being held in Russia because they are Americans or because they have American status, and we shouldn’t need to wait for their health to be on the brink of death for there to be an urgency to bring them home,” Lebson said.
Former detainee Paul Whelan, a Michigan man who spent more than five years in Russian custody on baseless espionage charges before being released in a 2024 high-profile prisoner swap, says he has firsthand knowledge of the poor quality of Russian prison healthcare. Whelan, who believes he received better care than most detainees due to his high-profile status and value as a bargaining chip, described systemic deficiencies during his detainment. When COVID-19 spread through Russian prisons, he says authorities distributed extra raw onions as a supposed immunity boost. Prisoners with damaged teeth typically had them pulled instead of receiving restorative care, first-aid supplies were so scarce that inmates had to fashion makeshift bandages, and fresh produce could only be obtained by bartering with guards. When Whelan finally received emergency middle-of-the-night surgery for a hernia he had complained about for months, he watched medical staff pick up dropped instruments off the floor and put them directly back into the surgical tray. “The poor conditions are part of the punishment,” Whelan explained. “You are supposed to get less of everything than normal citizens would get.”
The poor state of Russian prison healthcare is not a new revelation. The issue has drawn international scrutiny for decades, dating back to the 2009 death of Russian whistleblower lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died from untreated pancreatitis. More recently, U.S. Marine veteran Trevor Reed reported severe health complications including coughing up blood, lung pain, and a broken rib before his 2022 release.
Gilman, a Massachusetts teacher who had been detained since 2020 on disputed assault charges the U.S. government calls false, was in extremely poor condition by the time he was released. Lebson says Gilman spent 47 days in a “dissociative stupor” from prison abuse before being transferred to a hospital, where he was placed on a feeding tube and handcuffed to his bed. Liz Richards, director of hostage advocacy and research at the Foley Foundation, says images of Gilman’s frail condition on his flight home confirm he never received the care he needed while imprisoned. “I really do think Russia realized, if we don’t release him, he is going to die, and that would create an international incident between our two countries — to have a Marine Corps veteran, an American, die in custody in Russia because of their treatment,” Richards said.
The current crisis is exemplified by the case of 59-year-old Chuck Zimmerman, who was intercepted by the Russian navy in international waters in June 2022 while sailing from the U.S. to New Zealand. Russian authorities charged him with transporting firearms on his yacht, though his representatives note he voluntarily disclosed the weapons after arriving at the Black Sea port of Sochi. He was sentenced to five years in prison, and within months began experiencing excruciating stomach pain so severe he induced vomiting to find temporary relief. Initial Russian tests failed to identify the cause, but independent medical consultations arranged by advocacy groups point to possible diagnoses including a gastric ulcer, pancreatitis, or a hiatal hernia with gastric bypass disorder. “It’s heart-wrenching to know that he’s having to make himself do that to stop the pain,” said his sister Robin Stultz. “It’s hard for me to sit down and eat dinner knowing that he’s throwing up his.”
In recent weeks, 16 U.S. senators sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, citing Gilman’s weakened condition to push for more aggressive action to secure the release of five detained Americans beyond Zimmerman and Jezler: Aleksandr Antonov, who lives with a traumatic brain injury; Andre Khachatoorian, jailed for nearly five years with an autoimmune disease; and David Barnes, who needs urgent dental surgery. Other Americans still in Russian custody include Stephen Hubbard, accused of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine and classified as wrongfully detained by the U.S., and Travis Leake, an American rock musician held on drug charges. Richards estimates that roughly 28 Americans are currently detained in Russia, with six classified as wrongfully detained by the U.S. government.
In response to inquiries, the U.S. State Department said it is aware of concerns about inadequate medical care for detained Americans and continues to raise the issue directly with Russian authorities. The Russian Federal Penitentiary Service did not respond to requests for comment.