Israeli-Russian researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov released in Iraq

Israeli-Russian researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov, who was kidnapped in March 2023 by a Shiite Kataib Hezbollah militias in Baghdad, Iraq. Photo: Creative Commons/Tsukov Family

BAGHDAD,— Elizabeth Tsurkov, an Israeli-Russian academic who was kidnapped in Baghdad in March 2023, has been released, Iraqi and U.S. officials confirmed Tuesday.

The announcement came from Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and U.S. President Donald Trump.

Tsurkov, a doctoral student at Princeton University and fellow at the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy, was abducted by the Shiite militia group Kataib Hezbollah while conducting research in Iraq.

Iraqi officials described her kidnappers as a “group of outlaws,” although U.S. authorities and Trump specifically cited the pro-Iranian Kataeb Hezbollah faction.

Prime Minister Sudani said on X that “as a culmination of extensive efforts exerted by our security services over the course of many months, we announce the release of the Russian citizen, Elizabeth Tsurkov.”

Trump also confirmed the release on his Truth Social account, stating that Tsurkov had been held and tortured for several months and was now at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

Sabah al-Numan, the military spokesperson for the Iraqi prime minister, said authorities had successfully located and reached Tsurkov’s place of detention on September 9. He added that she was handed over to the U.S. Embassy to facilitate her reunion with her sister, a U.S. citizen.

Emma Tsurkov, the former captive’s sister, expressed gratitude to Trump, his special envoy Adam Boehler, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, and the non-profit organization Global Reach for their role in securing her release.

“My entire family is incredibly happy. We cannot wait to see Elizabeth and give her all the love we have been waiting to share for 903 days,” she wrote on social media.

Numan reiterated that Iraq’s security forces would continue to pursue all individuals involved in the abduction to ensure accountability.

Elizabeth Tsurkov, who holds tens of thousands of followers on Twitter and describes herself as “passionate about human rights,” had been in Iraq for her doctoral research. Her work focused on pro-Iranian factions and the activities of Iraqi Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr.

She was reportedly kidnapped as she left a café in Baghdad’s Karrada neighborhood, according to an Iraqi intelligence source.

While Israeli authorities had previously blamed Kataeb Hezbollah for her disappearance, the group initially denied involvement. On Tuesday, a source within Kataeb Hezbollah told AFP that Tsurkov’s release had been arranged to avoid conflict in Iraq.

“She was released according to conditions, the most important of which was to facilitate the withdrawal of U.S. forces without a fight and to spare Iraq any conflicts or fighting,” the source said. “She was released and not liberated. No military operation was carried out to free her.”

Kataeb Hezbollah is part of Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces, also known as Hashed al-Shaabi, a coalition of armed groups largely trained by Iran during the fight against the Islamic State group.

Despite being integrated into the country’s security forces, the faction has a history of acting independently.

Pro-Iranian Iraqi militias, including Kataeb Hezbollah, have repeatedly called for the withdrawal of U.S. forces, deployed in Iraq under Baghdad’s invitation as part of the anti-ISIS coalition.

Following the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, U.S. and coalition troops in Iraq and neighboring Syria were targeted in multiple attacks, prompting retaliatory strikes on Iranian-linked positions.

Both the U.S. and Iraq have announced plans to end the anti-ISIS coalition’s decade-long mission in federal Iraq by 2025, with operations in the Kurdistan region set to conclude by September 2026.

(With files from AFP)