Russian 'spy' killed by the Islamic State group

The Islamic State group released a video on Wednesday showing the murder of a Russian man, allegedly for being a "spy" for Moscow.

The man identified himself in the video as Magomed Khasayev, while dressed in the bright orange uniform that hostages have been forced to wear before being killed by the group.

There is also no indication of where or when the video was produced, but the video has been widely shared on social media.

	Khasayev "confessed" he was sent by Russia [Screen Grab]

The Arabic-Russian language video shows a bearded man who appears to be in his late 20s saying that he is from Chechnya.

Khasayev then "confesses" he was sent by Russian intelligence to identify fighters who might seek to return to the Caucuses to carry out attacks.

The video then shows the man kneeling on a beach while another man stands behind him to deliver a speech to Russian President Vladimir Putin, declaring that Russians would be killed in retaliation for his country's air raids against IS.

The video then shows Khasayev being beheaded by the other Russian speaker.

Moscow launched air raids in Syria against rebels and the Islamic State group on 30 September.

Analysts say that almost all Russian bombs have fallen on opposition-held areas contolled by "moderate" fighters.

Many have been fighting a two-front war against troops and militants loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, as well as the Islamic State group.

Following Moscow's air raids on Raqqa, 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.

Although Moscow vowed to take revenge on IS, it still appears to be concentrating its aerial attacks on Syrian rebels.

On 24 November, a Russian war plane was shot down by Turkey.

Since then Moscow has intensified its bombing of areas controlled by Turkish-backed rebels.