On Monday, a video of the missing Israeli-Russian academic Elizabeth Tsurkov was aired on the Iraqi al-Rabiaa satellite TV network. It was also shared across Telegram channels utilized by Iranian-backed Shiite militias.
Tsurkov, a Ph.D. candidate at Princeton University, was reportedly “conducting research related to her approved Ph.D. dissertation topic” when she disappeared from a cafe in the upscale Karradah neighborhood of Baghdad.
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Many have speculated that she was kidnapped by Kataeb Hizbullah, a collection of Iranian-backed armed groups within the Popular Mobilization Forces of Iraq. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that Israel’s intelligence identified the group as the perpetrator in July.
Kataeb Hezbollah has purported itself to not be involved, but the Iraqi government’s ongoing investigation has yet to yield any concrete results, leading Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani to remark on the failure during a September interview, stating: “The incident damages the reputation of Iraq’s stability and the capability of our security agencies.”
Speaking in Hebrew in the video, Tsurkov, who is likely talking under duress and whose words are translated into Arabic, “confesses” to be a spy for the West, asks for more resources to be allocated to her return, and implores for a complete cessation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip, a fact that seems to indicate the video was filmed at some point after Hamas’ October 7 attack.