Russia denies Daesh executed its ‘spy’ in Syria

Russia’s defence ministry today denied that a Russian serviceman had been captured and executed by Daesh in Syria, Russian news agencies reported.

The US-based SITE monitoring website reported that Daesh had issued a video showing the beheading of someone it described as a Russian intelligence officer captured in Syria.

The Russian, who some sites have identified as Petrenko Afghene, was said to be a Russian intelligence captain within Daesh’s ranks, gathering information on the terror group and secretly leaking it back to the Kremlin.

He had previously infiltrated other groups in Syria, Turkey and the Caucasus on behalf of Moscow.