Iraq’s authorities continue to stall on finding and releasing Elizabeth Tsurkov, a researcher who holds Israeli and Russian citizenship.
She was kidnapped by the Iranian-backed Shi’ite militia Kataib Hezbollah two years ago in March 2023. Over the last two years, the Iraqi government has several times pushed back on demands that they find her.
At other times, they have appeared to release details and hints that she is alive but that they are searching for her. Kataib Hezbollah is part of the Popular Mobilization Units, a group of militias that are also paramilitary forces of the Iraqi government. As such, Iraq’s continued claims that they don’t know where she is does not hold water.
The question now is whether Iraq will do what is necessary to free Tsurkov. It’s worth recalling some background here. Tsurkov was a researcher studying at Princeton when she went to Iraq. She was kidnapped in Baghdad.
Her kidnapping was not reported for three months, until July 5, 2023, when Israel’s Prime Minister Office noted, “Elizabeth Tsurkov is an Israeli-Russian dual citizen who has been missing in Iraq for several months and is being held by the Shiite militia Kataib Hezbollah.” The rumors prior to that had circulated about her going missing in Iraq.
MEMBERS OF the Iraqi Kataib Hezbollah organization gather ahead of the funeral of the founder Abu Mahdi al Muhandis, who was killed in an airstrike at Baghdad airport in January 2020. (credit: THAIER AL-SUDANI/REUTERS)
MEMBERS OF the Iraqi Kataib Hezbollah organization gather ahead of the funeral of the founder Abu Mahdi al Muhandis, who was killed in an airstrike at Baghdad airport in January 2020. (credit: THAIER AL-SUDANI/REUTERS)
After the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, it appears that Kataib Hezbollah chose to release a video of her. The video was provided and then aired on an Iraqi TV station, Rabiaa TV, in early November 2023. This was the first clear sign of life since March 2023. The recording was obviously done under duress. Tsurkov’s case didn’t get much coverage at the time because there were 250 hostages held in Gaza.
However, in April, Emma Tsurkov, Elizabeth's sister, confronted Iraq’s Prime Minister Shia al-Sudani when he visited the US. He was doing the rounds in DC, hoping to secure support from the US, and didn’t think he would face any pressure to free the researcher. He was wrong. Emma Tsurkov confronted him at the Atlantic Council.
Iraq didn’t seem to face any pressure from the Biden administration. However, after Donald Trump was elected, it seems Iraq again sought to float the idea that they might try to locate the researcher. In January, a report at the New Arab said she was still alive and being held in Iraq.
Reters has now reported in March 2025 that US President Donald Trump's Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Adam Boehler traveled to Iraq last month to push for the release of Israeli-Russian researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov. “Since taking office, Boehler has stepped up efforts to secure the release of Tsurkov, a Princeton University student who went missing in Iraq during a research trip in March 2023, publicly urging the Iraqi government to help her get home,” the report noted.
"The Trump Administration has done more in just a few weeks than the previous administration did in almost two years," Emma Tsurkov was quoted as saying in the Reuters report. There is some hope that Iraq might be pressured to do the right thing now.
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Iran believed to be involved
However, Ynet on March 12 reported that “Iran is believed to be involved in the detention of Israeli-Russian researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov, who was kidnapped in Baghdad in 2023 by the Shiite militia Kataib Hezbollah, an Iraqi official told Ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth.”
The fact that Iran is linked to the kidnapping is not a surprise. Kataib Hezbollah is one of the most senior and elite of the PMU militias. It is close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran. Its leader, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, was killed alongside IRGC Quds Force head Qasem Soleimani in the January 2020 airstrike. Therefore, it is obvious that Iran and Kataib Hezbollah coordinate closely. Kataib Hezbollah also killed three Americans in Jordan in January 2024 in a drone attack.
The Ynet report says that an official claimed that Iraq’s Prime Minister does not know where Tsurkov is being held. He also claimed, “It’s a stroke of luck she’s still alive. Usually, captives don’t survive the interrogations.” This was a strange statement to make, considering Iraq also pretends they don’t know who is holding her. How would they know she was interrogated?
The Ynet report included another piece of information. “American diplomatic efforts have also impacted how Tsurkov is described on Iraqi social media. She is no longer labeled a ‘Zionist spy’ or ‘CIA agent,’ as she was forced to declare in a previously recorded video released by her captors. Now, social media posts refer to her as ‘the Israeli researcher who entered Iraq on a Russian passport, ignoring the ban on Israeli citizens.’”
It appears that the White House's focus on freeing her has some effect. Another post online noted that an Iraqi official said that she entered Iraq legally with a Russian passport. Iraqi has responsibilities to protect and find her and free her. It remains to be seen if Baghdad will step up and do what is right.