Islamic State Releases Video Claiming To Kill Russian Spy

The Islamic State group on Wednesday released a video in which a Russian-speaking man confesses to spying for Russia’s security service and then is shown apparently being killed by another Russian-speaking man.

The authenticity of the video or the claims in it could not be confirmed and there was also no indication when and where the video was produced. In the video, a bearded man appearing to be in his late 20s is shown speaking from a chair. He says he is from Chechnya, identifies himself as Magomed Khasayev and says he is a spy sent to IS-held territories with orders from Russian intelligence to identify fighters who seek to return to the Caucasus region to carry out attacks.

IS claimed responsibility for bombing a Russian airliner shortly after it took off from the Egyptian resort of Sharm al-Sheikh in mid-October, killing all 224 people aboard.

In the wake of the Russian airliner bombing and the November terror attacks in Paris, Moscow has publicly declared determination to defeat IS and has pushed for international cooperation toward that goal.

Russia’s Caucasus region has been it by Islamist insurgencies for two decades, including two full-scale wars in Chechnya. The IS is believed to find the Caucasus a productive region for recruiting fighters.