Hopefully the stolen iPhone was recent enough that Find My / Activation lock rendered it a paperweight. This is why I'm pro parts pairing even though it creates e-waste.

I know in some places you can get AppleCare with theft protection, but if you're in a safe enough country I'd probably forego the theft protection and just eat the cost. Glad OP had theft protection via credit card.

Something similar happened to me last year, except the thief was in a motorbike. It made me decide to buy a second, cheaper phone for traveling abroad.

I did have some fun with the situation. I immediately put my iPhone in lost mode, with the message “enjoy your paperweight”, and blocked the eSIM to make sure it was as useless as possible. For the next few months, I checked on it periodically to see where the phone was last seen and how it moved around town.

Eventually the phone stopped reporting its location. I assume the thief just gave up and threw it away or stashed it.