The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed today, Wednesday, that "an armed Shiite group is holding a Russian-Israeli citizen in Iraq." The statement confirmed that "Ms. Elizabeth Tsurkov is alive, and Israel considers Iraq responsible for her safety."
The office added: "The woman works in the academic field. She went missing in Iraq a few months ago, remains alive, and is being held by the Kata'ib Hezbollah Shiite group."
It was explained that she "went to Iraq for research purposes, sent by Princeton University in the United States. No details about her condition have been provided thus far."
Tsurkov's mother stated that she lost contact with her two months ago. She told Israeli Channel 12: "From what I learned from Israel until today, she was in Turkey, working on her research for Princeton. I didn't even know she was in Iraq."
According to the university's website, Tsurkov is pursuing a PhD in the Department of Politics at Princeton. Her studies focus on comparative politics, and she has written articles based on field notes in Syria.
The US State Department confirmed that it is aware of her kidnapping and condemns it. They referred questions regarding her situation to the Iraqi authorities. Meanwhile, the Russian embassy in Baghdad clarified that it has "no information regarding Tsurkov, neither about her nationality nor regarding what happened to her in Iraq."
A review of her Twitter page indicates that she is interested in armed groups in Syria and their relationship with Turkey. Her last study mentioned that it required conducting interviews over five years to identify the factions involved in the war in Syria, which she published on a research website focused on security, armed groups, the economy, and governance in Syria.
She had deleted a tweet in which she asked, "For people in Lebanon who know someone in need of chemotherapy, please contact me." Israeli citizens are prohibited from traveling to Iraq, which is considered an enemy state. Kata'ib Hezbollah is one of the most powerful Iranian-backed armed groups there.
