President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced Princeton University doctoral student Elizabeth Tsurkov was released by Kata’ib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed group designated by the U.S. as a terrorist organization.
Tsurkov, a Russian-Israeli dual citizen, was “just released” by Kata’ib Hezbollah, and is now safe inside the American Embassy in Iraq, the president wrote in a Truth Social post.
“I will always fight for JUSTICE, and never give up,” Trump wrote in the post. “HAMAS, RELEASE THE HOSTAGES, NOW!”
Tsurkov was abducted in Baghdad in2023 while conducting research for her dissertation, according to previous reporting. She traveled to the country alone, with her Russian passport.
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Members of the Palestinian Prisoners Committee hold a rally outside the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) office in Gaza City on July 17, 2023, demanding the Iraqi government to include Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails in the exchange for Israeli-Russian academic Elizabeth Tsurkov. (Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Trump noted in the post that Tsurkov was “tortured for many months.”
Her current condition was not released.
The U.S. Embassy is seen from across the Tigris River in Baghdad, Iraq, Jan. 3, 2020.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office previously called for Tsurkov’s release, noting the country held Iraq responsible for her safety and well-being.
Tsurkov, who is also affiliated with Washington’s New Lines Institute, established herself as an expert on regional affairs and was regularly featured in international media prior to her disappearance.
Tsurkov is a doctoral student at Princeton University and fellow at the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy. (Elizabeth Tsurkov/Facebook)
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President Trump confirmed Tsurkov’s sister is an American citizen.
The founder and leader of Kata’ib Hezbollah, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, was killed in a 2020 U.S. airstrike ordered by Trump.