Freed Marine returns home 'very frail' after Russian 'nightmare' as family advocate urges Trump to free others
European security questions expose tensions between alliance obligations and American interests.
Robert Gilman couldn't walk off that plane. Sixteen hundred and sixty days in a Russian cell will do that to a man, and the images of him being carried home should stop everyone scrolling for a second. This is what "custody" means in Putin's Russia.
New Republican Times Editorial Board

Robert Gilman was unable to walk off the plane after more than 1,660 days in Russian custody and now faces an extensive physical and mental recovery.
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New Republican Times Editorial Board
Robert Gilman couldn't walk off that plane. Sixteen hundred and sixty days in a Russian cell will do that to a man, and the images of him being carried home should stop everyone scrolling for a second. This is what "custody" means in Putin's Russia. Not due process, not diplomacy, just a body used as leverage until it's convenient to trade.
Credit where it's due. Getting him out took real work, and whoever pushed this deal across the finish line deserves it. But the job isn't finished just because one flight landed. His family's advocate is already saying there are others still sitting in those same cells, and that's the part of this story that shouldn't get buried under the good news of one homecoming.
We've watched administrations treat these cases like political inventory, trotted out when useful and shelved when not. Americans held hostage abroad need a policy, not a mood. If Trump's team can bring Gilman home frail but alive, they can bring the rest home too, and they should move like it's urgent, because for the families still waiting, it is.
Gilman's recovery will be long. His country's attention shouldn't be short.
Commentary written with AI assistance by the New Republican Times Editorial Board.

