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‘Tortured’ Israeli-Russian hostage freed by Iraqi terror group

“We are so thankful to President Trump,” said Emma Tsurkov, the sister of a woman held by Shi’a terrorists for two and a half years.

By World Israel News Staff

A dual Israeli-Russian national who had been held captive in Iraq for more than two and a half years was freed Tuesday evening, U.S. President Donald Trump announced.

“I am pleased to report that Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Princeton student, whose sister is an American citizen, was just released by Kata’ib Hezbollah (MILITANT Hezbollah), and is now safely in the American Embassy in Iraq after being tortured for many months,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account.

Kata’ib Hezbollah is an Iran-backed Shi’a militia operating in Iraq, distinct from the better-known Lebanon-based Hezbollah terror group.

“I will always fight for JUSTICE, and never give up. HAMAS, RELEASE THE HOSTAGES, NOW!” Trump added.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani also confirmed Tsurkov’s release in a statement on X, though he notably avoided mentioning her Israeli citizenship.

“As a culmination of extensive efforts exerted by our security services over the course of many months, we announce the release of the Russian citizen, Elizabeth Tsurkov,” al-Sudani wrote.

Tsurkov’s sister, Emma, expressed deep gratitude to Trump and his team for securing her freedom after more than 900 days in captivity.

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“We are so thankful to President Trump and his Special Envoy, Adam Boehler. If Adam had not made my sister’s return his personal mission, I do not know where we would be,” she wrote on X.

Emma also thanked U.S. Embassy staff in Baghdad and the nonprofit Global Reach, which she said had advocated relentlessly for her sister’s release.

Tsurkov, now 38, was abducted in March 2023 during a research trip to Iraq as part of her academic work at Princeton University.

Though Israeli citizens are banned by law from traveling to enemy states like Iraq, Tsurkov reportedly entered the country on her Russian passport.

In 2024, her captors released a video showing Tsurkov under duress, allegedly confessing to being a Mossad and CIA spy and pleading in Hebrew for her release.

Born in Russia to Jewish parents, Tsurkov immigrated to Israel with her family in the early 1990s. Her mother and two siblings remain in Israel, while her father lives in Brazil and another sister resides in the United States.