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PBS News Hour

Doctoral student held hostage in Iraq shares harrowing story

Season 2026 Episode 27 | 9m 15s

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.

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