Princeton researcher Tsurkov released from militia captivity in Iraq, Trump says

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Israeli-Russian researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov, who was kidnapped in Iraq over two years ago, had been released from captivity by Shia militia Kataib Hezbollah.

Tsurkov “is now safely in the American Embassy in Iraq after being tortured for many months,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

Tsurkov’s release was also announced by Iraq’s prime minister.

Tsurkov, a Princeton University researcher, went missing in Iraq during a research trip in March 2023.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Trump for his help in gaining Tsurkov’s release, a senior US official said. The release came days after Trump signed an executive order paving the way for the US to designate countries around the world as state sponsors of wrongful detention and impose punitive measures on those it deems are wrongfully holding Americans.

Global Reach, a nonprofit that works for the release of Americans held in captivity abroad, said in a statement that Tsurkov had received a medical assessment at the embassy.

Emma Tsurkov, one of Elizabeth’s sisters, said in the statement her family was thankful to the Trump administration for helping secure her release. “We cannot wait to see Elizabeth and give her all the love we have been waiting to share for 903 days,” Emma Tsurkov said.

In a statement on social media confirming Tsurkov’s release, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani said: “We reaffirm once again that we will not be lenient in enforcing the law and upholding the authority of the state, and we will not allow anyone to tarnish the reputation of Iraq and Iraqis.”

Under the administration of former President Joe Biden, Tsurkov’s family struggled to get Washington to throw its weight behind efforts to secure her release. US officials then said there was little they could do because she is not an American citizen. A Trump administration hostage negotiator traveled to Iraq in February to push for Tsurkov’s release, according to sources.