Elizabeth Tsurkov, an Israeli-Russian academic held captive for 903 days by Iran-backed militants in Iraq, has provided a harrowing account of her ordeal to the BBC. The Princeton University doctoral student, kidnapped in March 2023 while conducting fieldwork in Baghdad, endured extreme torture including electrocution, whipping, sexual abuse, and being suspended from ceilings with her hands cuffed behind her back.
Ms. Tsurkov described how her captors—believed to be members of Kataib Hezbollah, a US-designated terrorist organization—initially didn’t know about her Israeli citizenship. When they accessed her phone and discovered her nationality, the brutal interrogation intensified. She resorted to inventing false confessions based on her captors’ conspiracy theories, attempting to satisfy their demands while protecting Iraqi activists she knew.
Her release in September came after what she describes as a direct US intervention. According to Ms. Tsurkov, Trump-appointed special envoy Mark Savaya delivered an ultimatum to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani: secure her release within a week or face the elimination of Kataib Hezbollah’s leadership. She was freed within days, though Iraqi officials credited their own security services’ efforts.
Now recovering in Israel, Ms. Tsurkov faces significant physical and psychological challenges. She notes the irony that her PTSD symptoms align with Israel’s collective trauma following the October 7 attacks. Despite being a longtime critic of Israeli policy and advocate for Palestinian rights, she expresses deepened pessimism about regional peace prospects, noting that the Gaza border communities attacked on October 7 were home to many peace activists.
The academic remains determined to complete her PhD while confronting the lasting effects of her captivity, including the psychological impact of having internalized elements of her false confessions. She describes her survival as a combination of luck and resilience in extraordinarily unlucky circumstances.