A group of 16 Democratic senators has urged the Trump administration to intensify efforts to secure the release of five US nationals currently detained in Russia, some of whom have been imprisoned for more than four years. The appeal, sent to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, follows the recent release of US Marine veteran Robert Gilman, who had been held in Russian custody for 1,666 days.

Who the Five Detained Americans Are

The senators identified the five detained nationals as Andre Khachatoorian, David Barnes, Olga Jezler, Alexsandr Antonov, and Charles “Chuck” Zimmerman. As of Wednesday, Khachatoorian had been held for 1,688 days, Barnes for 1,671 days, and Jezler for 1,506 days. Antonov had been detained for 524 days and Zimmerman for 420 days, according to the senators’ letter.

None of the five has been formally designated by the administration as wrongfully detained — a status that would trigger stronger diplomatic and legal mechanisms on their behalf. Stephen Hubbard, 74, is currently the only American in Russian custody to hold that designation, having received it in January 2025. He has been in detention since April 2022.

What the Senators Are Demanding

The letter, led by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine of Virginia, called on the administration to invoke the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act — commonly known as the Levinson Act — to formally designate the five Americans as wrongful detainees.

Such a designation would elevate their cases to SPEHA — the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs — improve inter-agency coordination, strengthen diplomatic negotiations, and extend additional support to the detainees’ families, the senators argued.

“We are united in the belief that the safe return of US nationals detained abroad must remain a priority of the United States government,” the senators wrote. “We are deeply concerned that the current Administration has yet to utilise the authorities outlined in the Levinson Act to designate the US nationals detained by the Russian Federation as wrongful detainees and elevate their cases to SPEHA.”

Calls to Label Russia a State Sponsor of Wrongful Detention

The senators also urged the administration to consider designating Russia as a State Sponsor of Wrongful Detention — a classification previously applied to Iran and Afghanistan. They further demanded that all detained US nationals be guaranteed adequate consular access, and that the administration develop a concrete release plan independent of the stalled negotiations over the war in Ukraine or broader US-Russia diplomatic disputes.

“My heart breaks for these five Americans who are trapped, away from their families, confined in a Russian prison,” Schumer said. “These are people who have had their futures taken from them, all to be used as a pawn in a larger conflict.”

Context: Gilman’s Release and the Levinson Act

The senators’ appeal was prompted in part by the circumstances surrounding Robert Gilman’s release. Reports indicated he had become unresponsive and was at risk of dying due to alleged mistreatment before his release was secured. His case underscored the urgency of formal wrongful detention designations, which the Levinson Act was specifically designed to enable.

The Levinson Act — named after Robert Levinson, an American who disappeared in Iran in 2007 — established procedures for determining whether a US citizen held abroad qualifies as a wrongful detainee and strengthened the government’s capacity to coordinate recovery efforts. Critics argue the Trump administration has been slow to fully deploy these tools in the Russia cases.

With US-Russia relations at a sustained low and Ukraine peace talks yielding little progress, the fate of the five Americans remains uncertain. The senators’ letter signals growing bipartisan pressure to decouple hostage diplomacy from the broader geopolitical standoff.