Trump Says Kidnapped Princeton Scholar Freed, Now Safe at US Embassy in Baghdad

Elizabeth Tsurkov, an Israeli-Russian dual citizen, was kidnapped in March 2023 by Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah.
Trump Says Kidnapped Princeton Scholar Freed, Now Safe at US Embassy in Baghdad
Emma Tsurkov and Elizabeth Tsurkov (L) in Santa Clara Valley, Calif., in September 2018. Eric Tucker/AP Photo
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President Donald Trump said on Sept. 9 that Princeton graduate student Elizabeth Tsurkov, who was kidnapped in Iraq in 2023, had been freed by the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah and transferred to U.S. custody.

Tsurkov, an Israeli-Russian dual citizen, was kidnapped in March 2023 while carrying out research in Baghdad, the capital city of Iraq. Kataib Hezbollah has never claimed responsibility for her abduction.