Source: NBC News
“A Princeton University graduate student who was kidnapped and held captive 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 Shia paramilitary group aligned with Iran, President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social. Tsurkov had been ‘tortured for many months,’ Trump said. The release came after ‘extensive efforts exerted by our security services over the course of many months.’ Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani said on X. … According to New Lines magazine, which was in contact with Tsurkov prior to her capture in Baghdad, she was in Iraq to carry out fieldwork for her doctoral dissertation. Tsurkov is also a fellow at the New Lines Institute, a global affairs think tank in Washington.” (09/10/25)