Wed Sep 10 00:19:18 UTC 2025: **Summary of the Text:**

Elizabeth Tsurkov, an Israeli-Russian academic who was kidnapped in Baghdad in March 2023, has been released. Iraqi Prime Minister al-Sudani and U.S. President Trump announced her release on September 9, 2025. While Iraq claims she was kidnapped by “outlaws,” Trump stated she was held and tortured by the pro-Iran Kataeb Hezbollah group. Ms. Tsurkov has been handed over to the U.S. embassy in Baghdad for reunion with her sister. Kataeb Hezbollah implied the release was conditional, aiming to facilitate the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. Ms. Tsurkov, who was researching pro-Iran factions and Iraqi Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr, was abducted while leaving a cafe in Baghdad.
The U.S. and Iraq have announced that the anti-IS coalition would end its decade-long military mission in federal Iraq in 2025, and by September 2026 in the autonomous Kurdistan region in the country’s north.

**News Article:**

**Israeli-Russian Academic Elizabeth Tsurkov Released After Two Years in Captivity**

**Baghdad – September 10, 2025** – Israeli-Russian academic Elizabeth Tsurkov has been freed after being held captive in Baghdad for over two years. The announcement was jointly made by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday.

Tsurkov, a doctoral student at Princeton University, was kidnapped in March 2023 while conducting research in Baghdad on pro-Iran factions and the movement of Iraqi Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr.

While Iraqi officials attributed the kidnapping to a “group of outlaws,” President Trump identified Kataeb Hezbollah, a powerful pro-Iran group, as her captors, alleging she was subjected to torture.

“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,” Sudani said.

A source within Kataeb Hezbollah suggested the release was conditional, aimed at expediting the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and sparing the country from further conflict.

The U.S. and Iraq have previously agreed to end the anti-Islamic State coalition’s military mission in Iraq by 2025.

The former captive has been transferred to the U.S. embassy in Baghdad to reunite with her sister, Emma Tsurkov.

Ms. Tsurkov’s disappearance had drawn international attention, with Israeli authorities previously blaming Kataeb Hezbollah for her abduction.

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