Islamic State has issued a chilling threat to Vladimir Putin just days after 137 people were killed during a terrorist attack in Russia on Friday.
Iranian media, citing IS-Khorasan propaganda network Al Azaim, warned Russia faces another massacre after footage circulated on social media showing the four terrorist suspects being tortured.
The image, which showed a balaklava-wearing terrorist pointing a weapon towards the camera, was accompanied by a lengthy message.
The Isis statement supposedly said: “Stop torturing Isis prisoners.
Islamic State has issued a chilling threat to Vladimir Putin just days after 137 people were killed during a terrorist attack in Russia on Friday
REUTERS
“Careful! Do not think that we do not have the opportunity to take revenge on you for our captured brothers.
“In Friday's attack, we proved that, God willing, the Islamic State Mujahideen can punish them for any of their horrors.
“Without this revenge, there will be a lot of blood left in the Islamic Ummah.
“The torture of captured Mujahideen in his name and the publication of their videos increase his bloodlust for thousands of his brothers.
“This time, we will hit you so hard on the head that future generations, God willing, will remember you and these pains and wounds of the past will be forgotten.”
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Suspects in the Crocus City Hall shooting are escorted inside the Russian Investigative Committee headquarters
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Isis issued the threat after Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 32, Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, 30, and Shamsidin Fariduni, 25, pleaded guilty to committing an act of terror.
The three men were blindfolded as they entered the courtroom but carried injuries which visibly came as the result of torture.
One terrorist was seen with the right side of his head all bandaged after his ear was sliced.
Mukhammadsobir Faizov, 19, was wheelchair bound as he was brought to court directly from hospital and proceeded to sit with his eyes closed throughout the proceedings.
Telegram channels closely connected to the Kremlin released a photo of Fariduni’s genitals being electrocuted during interrogation.
Saidakrami Murodali Rachabalizoda, a suspect in the shooting attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue, sits behind a glass wall
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Friday’s attack at Crocus City Hall resulted in 137 people being killed and another 180 sustaining injuries.
Despite foiling a plot to attack a synagogue just weeks earlier, Moscow rejected concerns raised by the US and UK about a potential terrorist attack in the Russian capital.
Putin also appeared to blame the West for the incident, particularly Ukraine.
"The four attackers were arrested moving towards Ukraine, and we have intelligence showing they were about to be received on the territory of Ukraine."
The Russian President added: "To reiterate, we will identify and punish everyone who stands behind the terrorists, who prepared this atrocity, this attack on Russia, on our people."
Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, a suspect in the shooting attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue, sits behind a glass wall
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Russia’s Federal Security Service also claimed there was a link to the ex-Soviet state.
FSB said: “After the terrorist attack, the criminals intended to cross the border of the Russian Federation and Ukraine and had relevant contacts on the Ukrainian side.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova added: “Now we know in which country these bloody b******s planned to hide from persecution - Ukraine.”
However, Isis were quick to claim responsibility for the attack, saying: “Islamic State fighters attacked a large gathering of Christians in the city of Krasnogorsk on the outskirts of the Russian capital, Moscow, killing and wounding hundreds and causing great destruction to the place before they withdrew to their bases safely.”
Kyiv immediately distanced itself from the attack on the concert hall.
A suspect in the shooting attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue is escorted inside the Basmanny district court
REUTERS
Mykhailo Podolyak, an aide to Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, claimed Kyiv was not behind the attack.
"Let's be clear, Ukraine absolutely has nothing to do with these events," he said.
Podolyak added: “The versions of Russian special services regarding Ukraine are absolutely untenable and absurd.”
Moscow mouthpieces doubled down after the West corroborated claims Jihadists were behind the attack.
State Rossiya 1 reporter Andrei Medvedev peddled the spurious allegation that MI6 were behind the attack.
He said: “The British, due to their long colonial past, are very serious professionals in the field of inciting ethnic conflicts.”
