ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Israeli-Russian researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov, who was kidnapped in Iraq in 2023, allegedly by Kataib Hezbollah, has been released, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani announced on Tuesday.

In July 2023, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Iraq’s Iran-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah of kidnapping Tsurkov, a PhD candidate at Princeton University who had supposedly entered Iraq for research purposes using her Russian passport months prior. The group denied involvement.

"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," said Sudani on X.

"We reaffirm, once again, that we will not tolerate any compromise in enforcing the law and upholding the authority of the state, nor will we allow anyone to undermine the reputation of Iraq and its people," the Iraqi premier added.

US President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that Tsurkov "was just released by Kata'ib Hezbollah...and is now in the American Embassy in Iraq." Trump alleged that the Princeton student had been "tortured for many months."

"My entire family is incredibly happy. We cannot wait to see Elizabeth and give her all the love we have been waiting to share for 903 days," said Elizabeth's sister, Emma Tsurkov, in a post on X shortly after the announcement. "We are so thankful to President Trump and his Special Envoy, Adam Boehler. If Adam had not made my sister’s return his personal mission, I do not know where we would be."

In February Emma Tsurkov blamed Sudani’s “incompetence and inaction” and the former US President Joe Biden administration for failing to bring her sister home, nearly two years after her kidnapping.

The Kataib Hezbollah, a group under Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), has been designated a terrorist organization by the US. The group was implicated in an attack on an agriculture ministry headquarters that killed at least two people, a civilian and a police officer.

The PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi, was formed upon a call by Iraq’s top Shiite authority Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani soon after the Islamic State (ISIS) took over large swathes of territory in Iraq. The force has been officially incorporated into the Iraqi armed forces, enjoying similar privileges as the Iraqi army.

The PMF have long faced criticism for their links to Iran and allegations that the Iraqi government’s control over the group is tenuous.

Iraq maintains a hardline stance against Israel. The country’s Law of Criminalizing the Normalization with the Zionist Entity prohibits officials and media personnel from engaging with Israel in any capacity, making it punishable by death.