Kidnapping
Tsurkova entered Iraq with her Russian passport in January 2023. [16] [3] She was visiting Iraq to conduct field research in Iraq for her doctoral dissertation at Princeton University, as confirmed by the university's deputy spokesperson on October 3, 2023. [17] Multiple Princeton scholars and employees, including Professors Amaney Jamal, Tali Mendelberg and Mark Beissinger, were aware of her research in Baghdad. [18]
Tsurkova contacted a Shia cleric named Ahmed Alwani with the intention of meeting his cousin Muhammad Alwani, a senior official in the Kata'ib Hezbollah in Iraq. When the two men discovered Tsurkova's Israeli citizenship, Muhammad Alwani decided to have her kidnapped. [19] Tsurkova was abducted on March 21, 2023, while sitting in a cafe in Baghdad's Karrada district. [20] [21]
Response
Shortly after her disappearance, an Iraqi news website said that Iraqi authorities were questioning an Iranian citizen in connection to the kidnapping. [22]
In early July 2023, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed Tsurkova had been abducted, and accused Kata'ib Hezbollah of abducting her, which they denied. [3] [7] [8] [16] [23] The Iraqi government made a statement that they were investigating Tsurkova's disappearance, but so far had no answers. [22] [3]
On September 8, 2023, human rights organizations Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Scholars at Risk and Democracy for the Arab World Now pledged the Iraqi government "to ensure the immediate and unconditional release of Elizabeth Tsurkova". [4] On September 11, American senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker wrote a letter asking American President Joe Biden to put pressure on the Iraqi government for Tsurkova's release. [24] On September 13, a Princeton spokesperson said the university "...continues to communicate with relevant government officials and experts to understand how we can best support Elizabeth’s safe return to her family and her studies at Princeton". [25]
On November 13, 2023, a 4-minute video of Tsurkova was released on Telegram and subsequently aired by Alrabiaa TV. [16] In the video, which could not be authenticated, Tsurkova says she had been detained for seven months, although she does not identify her captors or location, and she also mentions the Gaza war. [22] [3] [16] Tsurkova also says in the video that she had been working for the CIA and Mossad, which Tsurkova's family denied. [3] Several Iraqi experts determined it was a forced confession made under duress, making it invalid and unreliable. [26]
In late January 2025, Iraqi foreign minister Fuad Hussein confirmed to Israeli journalist Barak Ravid that Tsurkova was still alive and that efforts were underway to secure her release. [27] [28] Tsurkova's family expressed doubt about the Iraqi government's efforts. [29]
Release
On September 9, 2025, Iraqi prime minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and U.S. president Donald Trump announced on Twitter and Truth Social respectively, that Tsurkova had been freed. [30] [31] She was freed after 903 days in captivity, [32] [33] and was transferred to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad following her release. [33] Israeli sources reported that she would return to Israel, and undergo care similar to that provided to released and rescued hostages held in Gaza by Palestinian factions. [34]
According to Agence France-Presse, citing a Kata'ib Hezbollah source, Tsurkova's release was negotiated under the condition that U.S military forces withdraw from Iraq. [35] However, the US Special Envoy for Hostage Response Adam Boehler, who led the efforts to secure Tsurkov's release, assured that “the United States did not give anything in return for Tsurkov’s release”, [36] and the Arabic international newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported based on sources in the Iraqi militia and security circles that the abductors were indeed effectively forced into releasing Tsurkov “after a political siege and negotiations that escalated since August, under pressure from the Iraqi government and the United States”, so that Kata'ib Hezbollah “lost their bargaining chip and got nothing”. According to the spokesperson of the US State Department, the release of Elizabeth Tsurkov “came after a decisive partnership with [Iraqi] Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani”. [37]
