Doctoral student held hostage for years in Iraq shares her harrowing story after release
Podcast:PBS News Hour - Segments Published On: Mon Feb 02 2026 Description: Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Russian-Israeli doctoral student at Princeton University, was conducting research in Baghdad in 2023 when she was kidnapped by an Iran-linked militia and held in captivity for more than 900 days. Her release last September followed a high-stakes international push. Amna Nawaz speaks with Tsurkov for her first American television interview. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy