IS releases a brutal video of beheading Russian hostage

The Search for International Terrorist Entities (SITE) on Wednesday said that IS disclosed footage of beheading a hostage suspected as Russian spy. “It appears that IS has disclosed the video as a retaliatory measure against the Russian airstrikes,” said CNN. This marks the first time IS has disclosed a video of decapitating a Russian hostage.

According to a report in the Guardian, the video starts with Arabic and Russian subtitles that read "You will be conquered and humiliated, O Russians." A man with his late 20s with a beard who is pointed out as the victim of execution, says that his name is Magomed Khasiev from Chechen, and that he infiltrated into IS under the order of the FSB to gather information on the Russians who joined IS.

Soon, the kneeled man is beheaded by a man clad in military uniform who warns to the video, saying, "Listen, Putin the dog." Russia has stepped up its airstrike campaign against Syria since one of its airplanes was shot down by IS terrorism in late October. Tensions intensified between the two parties as the terrorists responded by threatening of additional assaults. In turn, Russia provoked IS by claiming that Turkey has been smuggling IS’s crude oil.

The SITE said the footage in question was filmed in Raqqa, the de factor capital of IS in northern part of Syria, but the Russian government has not provided any response to the video.

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