Elizabet Tsurkov, an Israeli and Russian academic, has spoken publicly for the first time about her 903 days in captivity in Iraq. Kidnapped in Baghdad in March 2023 by the Shiite militia Qata'ib Hezbollah, Tsurkov described enduring severe torture, beatings, sexual violence, and prolonged isolation. She recounted being accused of espionage after her Israeli identity was discovered, and said she was forced to invent confessions to stop the abuse. After months of mistreatment and isolation, she was eventually released in September and returned to Israel, where she is undergoing long-term physical and psychological rehabilitation.