Live Update 
From the Liveblog of
Monday, November 13, 2023
From the Liveblog of
Monday, November 13, 2023
Israel-Russian academic appears on video for first time since being abducted in Iraq
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Elizabeth Tsurkov, an Israeli-Russian academic who was kidnapped in Iraq in March 2023, speaks in a clip aired November 13, 2023, by Iraq's Al Rabiaa satellite TV network. (Screenshot: X; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
An Israeli-Russian academic who was kidnapped in Iraq earlier this year has appeared on a video for the first time, asking in Hebrew for increased pressure for her release.
In the statement, seemingly given under duress, Elizabeth Tsurkov criticizes Israel’s Gaza offensive and “admits” to having been in Iraq as a Western spy and agitator when she was taken hostage, apparently by the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah terror group.
The Princeton University-based Tsurkov disappeared in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, in March while doing research.
The video, apparently the first showing Tsurkov since her disappearance, has been aired by Iraq’s Al Rabiaa satellite TV network.
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