Overview

• President Trump and Iraq’s prime minister announced that Tsurkov is in U.S. custody at the American Embassy in Baghdad, where she received a medical assessment.
• Tsurkov was abducted in Baghdad in March 2023 during field research and was long believed held by the Iran‑aligned militia Kata’ib Hezbollah, which has not clearly claimed responsibility.
• Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al‑Sudani credited months of work by security services, and the Associated Press reported no U.S. military operation was tied to the transfer.
• Her family thanked Special Envoy Adam Boehler, U.S. Embassy chargé d’affaires Josh Harris and the nonprofit Global Reach, while Princeton’s president welcomed her release.
• Tsurkov holds Israeli and Russian citizenship and entered Iraq on her Russian passport; a 2023 video showing her confessing to espionage was described by her family as coerced.