The Iraqi TV channel Al Rabiaa released a video recording, which for the first time since the alleged abduction showed Elizaveta Tsurkova, whom the Israeli authorities called a Russian-Israeli citizen, admitting to subversive work for Israeli and American intelligence services, and also criticizing Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip.
In July, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “Elizaveta Tsurkova, an Israeli and Russian citizen who went missing several months ago, is being held by Shiite militias as a hostage by Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq.” Russian Ambassador to Iraq Elbrus Kutrashev told RIA Novosti that same month that there had been no requests to the embassy regarding the allegedly kidnapped Russian woman, so diplomats had not contacted the Iraqi government about the issue.
In a video now published by an Iraqi TV channel, Tsurkova says in Hebrew that she “worked in Syria to build ties between Israel and Syrian democratic forces in the northeast of the country.”
“I arrived there in 2019 while serving with the Mossad and the CIA. After that, I began working in Iraq on normalization with the Iraqi liberal opposition,” she said.
She says that "the main goal recently has been to incite hostility with the prospect of conflict between Shiites in Iraq."
She also criticizes Israeli military actions in the Gaza Strip and argues that Netanyahu is controlled by his wife Sara and son Yair. Tsurkova called on the families of the Hamas hostages to convince the Israeli government to stop the war. She also asks her family to seek her release.
This post was edited by Norlander on Nov 13 2023 10:39pm