‘Russian soldiers’ captured by ISIS seen battered, bruised and handcuffed after being held in Syria

One man spoke to the camera to confirm his name and date of birth before revealing he had been taken prisoner during a counter-offensive attack.

Islamic State has released footage of what is believed to be two Russian soldiers, handcuffed and bruised, after being taken prisoner in Syria.

The video, released today, said that the two men had been captured by fighters in the Syrian city of Deir al-Zor, where Russia has been backing the Syrian military against the terror group.

But despite the men revealing their names, dates of birth and home villages, the Russian Defence Ministry denied their soldiers had been captured, according to Interfax news agency.

The defence ministry, and the foreign ministry, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In the 42-second video, released on the terror group’s AMAQ news agency, two men appeared briefly in a room wearing grey tunics.

One, with a beard, appeared to be in handcuffs. The other seemed to have bruises on his face.

The video could not be immediately verified by Reuters.

The bearded man spoke in Russian, the other remained silent, with Arabic subtitles in the video. It was dated October 3, though there was no other evidence when the video was made.

The bearded man, speaking to the camera, gave his name, his date of birth, and his home village in southern Russia.

He then said: “I was taken prisoner during a counter-offensive by Islamic State.”

He added that he was taken prisoner with a second man, whose name, date of birth and home district he also gave.

Amaq said late last month the militants captured two Russians as they battled in towns around Deir al-Zor.

The Russian defence ministry denied then that any military personnel were taken hostage.

With Russian air power and Iran-backed militias, the Syrian army reached Deir al-Zor city in August, breaking an Islamic State siege of an enclave there that had lasted three years as the jihadist group lost ground in Iraq and Syria.

With US-led jets and special forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias is battling Islamic State on the east side of the Euphrates river, as they also capture swathes of Deir al-Zor province from Islamic State.

Source: Mirror