Princeton academic Elizabeth Tsurkov freed by Iraqi militia after 2 years in captivity

A student graduated from Princeton University who was kidnapped and caught captivity by an Islamic militia in Iraq for more than two years was released on Tuesday.

Elizabeth Tsurkov – A Russian -Israeli citizen – was released by the Kataib Hezbollah group, a Shiite paramilitary group aligned with Iran, President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social.

Tsurkov had been “tortured for several months,” said Trump.

The press release intervened after “in -depth efforts were exercised by our security services in several months”. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia ‘Al-Sudani said on X.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement: “I spoke this evening with Elizabeth and Avital’s mother, her sisters, and in emotional conversation, I told them that all the people of Israel are happy to see his house again.”

Netanyahu added that his defense coordinator, Gal Hirsch, led the operation that released him.

According to New Lines magazine, which was in contact with Tsurkov before she captured in Baghdad, she was in Iraq to do work in the field for her doctoral thesis. Tsurkov is also a member of the New Lines Institute, a group for reflection on global affairs in Washington.

Tsurkov’s sister Emma, ​​a researcher at the University of Stanford, told NBC News in a statement in 2023: “My sister is a courageous, compassionate and brilliant person who was in Iraq to study her people, her society and his policy as part of her princeton thesis until she is removed.”

She entered Iraq using her Russian passport on January 28, 2023, according to Amnesty International, who campaigned for her release.

The capture of Tsurkov has long been a concern among American legislators who have repeatedly called up for increased efforts to ensure its release. She has more than a decade of experience by carrying out research through the Middle East and voluntary for human rights groups.

His doctoral research specifically covered the sectarian conflict between the movements of Sadrist and Tishreen in Iraq.

The Democratic Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker said in a letter letter after his kidnapping in 2023 that Tsurkov was in a “unique vulneration position” because Iraq has no official diplomatic ties with Israel, and Russia had made no effort to release it because it had criticized the Russian invasion of Ukraine.