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Middle East|Princeton Student Held by Iran-Backed Militia Is Released, Trump Says
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/09/world/middleeast/elizabeth-tsurkov-hostage-released-iraq.html
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Israel and Iraq confirmed the release of Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Russian-Israeli graduate student at Princeton who was kidnapped in Iraq in 2023 by the militant group Kataib Hezbollah.
Sept. 9, 2025Updated 5:22 p.m. ET
President Trump announced on Tuesday that the Iran-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah had freed Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Russian-Israeli graduate student taken hostage in Iraq, ending more than two years of captivity for her.
Ms. Tsurkov has been released and is “now safely in the American Embassy in Iraq,” Mr. Trump said on social media.
The Israeli and Iraqi governments confirmed that she had been freed, without giving detail about the circumstances. Iraq’s prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, wrote on social media that Ms. Tsurkov had been released after “extensive efforts exerted by our security services.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel confirmed her release and said he had spoken to her family.
There was no immediate comment from Kataib Hezbollah. It was unclear what, if anything, the militant group had received in exchange for freeing Ms. Tsurkov, and why she had been freed now.
A doctoral candidate at Princeton University, Ms. Tsurkov disappeared while on a research trip to Baghdad in March 2023. The Israeli government publicly announced in July 2023 that she had been abducted by Kataib Hezbollah.
Until Mr. Trump’s announcement, repeated efforts by Israeli and U.S. officials to secure her freedom had seemingly met dead ends. The Iraqi government said it had also been looking for Ms. Tsurkov, and was handling communications with Kataib Hezbollah.
