CAIRO, July 7. /TASS/. Iraqi authorities announced on Friday that an investigation had been launched into the kidnapping of Israeli national Elizabeth Tsurkov, who is also a Russian citizen, the Al Hadath TV channel reported.

According to its information, the Iraqi government "announced the start of the investigation into the Baghdad kidnapping" of Elizabeth Tsurkov.

An Iraqi government spokesman said that official Baghdad "will announce its stance on the Elizabeth Tsurkov case after the investigation is completed and its findings are presented."

On July 5, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that "Elizabeth Tsurkov is an Israeli-Russian dual citizen who has been missing in Iraq for several months and is being held by the Shiite militia Kataib Hezbollah," insisting she was still alive.

On Thursday, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that the Russian Foreign Ministry is working to protect the interests of Russians abroad. According to him, the Kremlin will definitely contact the ministry "because measures to protect interests are normally taken via diplomatic agencies."

According to Israel’s Kan Radio, Tsurkov is an expert on Syria as well as on the Islamic State (IS, outlawed in Russia) terrorist organization. Her research dealt with comparing the movement of followers of Shiite imam Muqtada al-Sadr (the Sadrist Movement) and Lebanese formations. Prior to the kidnapping, Tsurkov was conducting fieldwork in Iraq and Lebanon.