Russian 'Spy' Beheaded By IS 'Recruited By FSB'
RFE/RL's Kazakh service has more information on Magomed Khasiev, the Russian man beheaded by IS after being accused of being a "Russian spy."
RFE/RL have found a profile of a man named Magomed Khasiev on the Russian social network VKontakte whose photographs look very similar to the man by the same name who appears in the IS video.
From the age of nine, Khasiev was an orphan who "asked for help from the leader of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, but did not receive it," the report says.
In July 2014, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) arrested Khasiev on suspicion of transporting narcotic pills, then enlisted him in exchange for his release and sent him to Syria to obtain information about Russian nationals fighting alongside IS.
Among those about whom Khasiev informed to the FSB could be students from the Stavropol State Medical Academy, who were convicted on December 1 to prison terms from five to seven years on terrorism charges.
In the video, Khasiev says that he studied in Maykop, the capital city of the Republic of Adygea and lived in the Chechen capital Grozny.
Turkey Dismisses Russia's 'Soviet-Style Propaganda' Over IS Oil
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has dismissed Russian allegations that his country is buying oil from the IS group as "Soviet-style propaganda," Reuters reports.
Davutoglu said Turkey was doing its utmost to secure its border with Syria.
"In the Cold War period there was a Soviet propaganda machine. Every day it created different lies. Firstly they would believe them and then expect the world to believe them. These were remembered as Pravda lies and nonsense," Davutoglu said, referring to the name of a Soviet newspaper.
"This was an old tradition but it has suddenly reared its head again. Nobody attaches any value to the lies of this Soviet-style propaganda machine."
Putin accuses Turkey of supporting militants in the North Caucasus since the 1990s.
Russian President Putin "touched on a sore subject -- the relations between Turkey and Russia" in his state of the nation address this morning, REN TV reports.
"We were ready to cooperate with Turkey. Probably only Allah knows why they did it," Putin said, referring to last week's downing by Turkey of a Russian Su-24 jet near the Syrian border.
"We know who in Turkey is stuffing their pockets and letting terrorists make money from stolen oil... Allah decided to punish Turkey's ruling clique," Putin added, according to REN TV.
Russian President Putin began his annual state of the nation address this morning with a minute of silence to honor the Russian military personnel killed in Syria.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the experience gained by using Russian weaponry in the "antiterrorist operation" in Syria would be used to improve those weapons.
"The Russian Army and Navy have clearly shown their fighting ability, their increased capacity," Putin said in his state of the nation address this morning.
Lavrov 'Agreed To Short Meeting' With Turkish FM
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is to meet his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, on the sidelines of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Belgrade today, Russian news agencies are reporting this morning.
"Following numerous requests from Turkey, Sergei Lavrov has agreed to a short meeting with the Turkish Foreign Minister on the sidelines of the OSCE Ministerial Council," a Foreign Ministry spokesperson told TASS.
On December 2, Lavrov said that he "would not avoid" meeting Cavusoglu in Belgrade.
Four British RAF Tornado jets have carried out their first strikes against IS targets in Syria after MPs voted last night to approve bombing.
The strikes targeted the Omar oil fields in eastern Syria and were "successful," Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said.
That concludes our live-blogging of the Islamic State militant group and related crises, including the ongoing tensions between Russia and Turkey. Check back here tomorrow morning for more of our continuing coverage.
Poland is considering how it might support the U.S.-led anti-IS coalition, Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski has said.
Waszczykowski said: "We will certainly exchange political and intelligence reports. Everything depends on the abilities of the Defense Ministry."
It is unlikely that Warsaw will send troops.