Officials said Elizabeth Tsurkov was safe at the U.S. Embassy in Bagdad, seen here in 2019. Tsurkov was abducted in Bagdad in 2023, and was freed from militant captivity on Tuesday. File Photo by Ahmed Jalil/EPA-EFE
Sept. 10 (UPI) — Elizabeth Tsurkov, an Israeli-Russian citizen and a Princeton University student who has been held captive by Shiite militants in Iraq since March 2023, has been freed, President Donald Trump and Iraqi government forces confirmed.
Circumstances surrounding her release were not clear. The Iraqi government said its security forces had discovered Tsurkov’s place of detention Tuesday. It said they reached that location and then handed Tsurkov over to the U.S. embassy, without stating how her freedom was secured.
Trump, on his Truth Social platform, said she had been released by Kata’ib Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization.
Sabah al-Numan, a spokesman for the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, said in a statement that Tsurkov had been handed over to the U.S. Embassy in Iraq, which Trump confirmed.
“On this occasion, we reaffirm that our armed forces and all our security agencies and formations will not hesitate to perform their duty to enforce the rule of law, defend the state and its institutions and hold accountable anyone who tries to harm the security and stability that has been achieved through great sacrifices and sincere national efforts,” al-Numan said.
Trump said, “I will always fight for JUSTICE, and never give up.”
A PhD student in political science at Princeton University, Tsurkov had traveled to Iraq in 2023 to conduct fieldwork when on March 21, eight days after her arrival, she was kidnapped from the Karrada neighborhood of Baghdad.
Months after she was detained, Israel announced that Kata’ib Hezbollah had been responsible for Tsurkov’s abduction.
Emma Tsurkov, one of Elizabeth’s sisters and an American citizen, said in a statement that her family was “incredibly happy” and “cannot wait to see Elizabeth and give her all the love we have been waiting to share for 903 days.”
Among those she thanked for aiding in securing Elizabeth’s release were Trump, his special envoy Adam Boehler, the U.S. Embassy in Iraq and Global Reach, a nonprofit that advocates for Americans detained abroad and has been supporting her family following Elizabeth’s abduction.
“This is a day we have all been waiting for,” Global Reach CEO Mickey Bergman told UPI in an emailed statement.
“As an Israeli-born American, Elizabeth’s safe return was particularly personal for me. It is important to know that we live in a country that fights for those in need, especially those in need, especially those who are targeted just because of their status or relationship with the United States.”
Princeton President Christopher Eisgruber similarly said in a statement that Tsurkov’s release “brings relief and joy to the university community, and we celebrate that she will be reunited with her family.”