Princeton doctoral student kidnapped in Iraq in 2023 could be freed in a week: reports

The release of Princeton University graduate student Elizabeth Tsurkov, an Israeli-Russian citizen being held hostage in Iraq, is close to being finalized, according to Arabic media reports.

Three sources, including an Iraqi government official, told Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat negotiations are in the final stages. And Tsurkov, 38, could be freed in a week to 10 days, according to Iraqi TV channel Al Rabiaa.

Tsurkov was kidnapped in Baghdad in March 2023 while conducting research for her PhD dissertation — field work that had been approved and funded by the university.

“The negotiations were long and very exhausting, but they ended with a deal that included the payment of a ransom,” one source said. “The deal is finalized, all details have been agreed upon and only Tsurkov’s release is pending.”

But a senior US official refuted the reports of advanced negotiations, telling Axios that there’s no imminent deal on the table.

“We hope the reports are true, but right now we don’t have any details,” said sister Emma Tsurkov, who lives in San Francisco. “We await official updates.”

Tsurkov’s release hinges on the exchange of Iranian Mohammad Reza Nouri, an Iranian prisoner detained for the killing of an American aid worker in Baghdad, and six others accused of “attacks against American interests,” according to reports.

She was born in the Soviet Union and moved to Israel when she was 4 years old. Tsurkov has lived and studied in the US since 2017. She’s been doing doctoral work in political science at Princeton since 2019, focusing on sectarianism in the Middle East and its impact on Iraqi women.

The student researcher had used her Russian passport to enter Iraq. She had just left a cafe in a middle-class Baghdad neighborhood when she was kidnapped by members of a paramilitary group.

She was seen alive in a propaganda video shortly after the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, warning that Israeli hostages will be killed if the country continues its “stupidly run” war, but has been out of the public eye since.