Posted on 09/09/25
| News Source: Arutz-7
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced in a post on his Truth Social platform that Israeli-Russian researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov, who had been kidnapped in Iraq, has been freed.
“I am pleased to report that Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Princeton Student, whose sister is an American Citizen, was just released by Kata’ib Hezbollah (MILITANT Hezbollah), and is now safely in the American Embassy in Iraq after being tortured for many months,” wrote Trump.
“I will always fight for JUSTICE, and never give up. HAMAS, RELEASE THE HOSTAGES, NOW!” he added.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani confirmed that Tsurkov had been released and said, “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. We reaffirm, once again, that we will not tolerate any compromise in enforcing the law and upholding the authority of the state, nor will we allow anyone to undermine the reputation of Iraq and its people.”
Emma Tsurkov, Elizabeth’s sister, responded to her sister’s release and wrote on X, “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.”
“We are so thankful to President Trump and his Special Envoy, Adam Boehler. If Adam had not made my sister’s return his personal mission, I do not know where we would be. We also want to thank Josh Harris and his team at the US Embassy in Baghdad for the support they provided to our sister and the team at the nonprofit Global Reach who advocated relentlessly for my sister's safe return,” she added.
Tsurkov, a doctoral student at Princeton University and a fellow at the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy, had been missing since March 2023. Israel said in July of that year that Tsurkov is being held by Kata'ib Hezbollah, a Shiite militia group.