This image made from video posted on the Internet by Islamic State militants on Dec 2 shows a man who identified himself as Magomed Khasayev of Chechnya, bound and kneeling in front of another Russian-speaking man with a knife. In the video, the kneeling man confesses to spying for Russia’s security service and then is shown apparently being beheaded by the man standing behind him. The authenticity of the video or the claims in it could not immediately be confirmed. (AP)

The president of Russia’s Chechnya region, Ramzan Kadyrov, said on Thursday that whoever was responsible for the beheading of a Russian man from Chechnya, purportedly shown on an Islamic State video, will be killed. “Yes, he was Russian-Chechen, he was beheaded .. there are proven facts,” Kadyrov told journalists. “Whoever killed that man ... won’t live for long.” 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 beheaded by another Russian-speaking man.

The authenticity of the video or the claims in it could not immediately be confirmed and there was no comment from Russia’s Foreign Ministry or its FSB security service. There was also no indication when and where the video was produced. Russia on Sept 30 launched airstrikes in Syria that it says are focused on IS fighters and the illegal oil trade that funds them.

However, critics in both Syria and abroad claim that Russia is heavily targeting other rebel groups not affiliated with IS, in order to back up the forces of longtime Moscow ally Syrian President Bashar Assad.

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. The video begins with a graphic in Arabic and Russian, saying “You will be conquered and humiliated, O Russians.”

Then 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. (Agencies)