IS releases video claiming to have shot down Russian plane in revenge

The Islamic State has released a video praising its "Sinai brothers" for shooting down a Russian passenger plane and threatening further attacks.

Five militants appear in a new Islamic State video. Photo: RT.

A newly released video shows five Islamic State (IS) militants sitting outdoors. One of them praises the militants in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula for shooting down a Russian Airbus A321, RT reported today.

The Slavic-looking militant spoke in Russian and Arabic, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin and warning him that he would regret attacking IS in Syria. He held a knife and threatened to continue shooting down planes, invading countries and killing people in revenge for Russia.

The Metrojet Airbus A321 passenger plane, traveling from Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, to St Petersburg, Russia, crashed on October 31 just 23 minutes after takeoff. All 224 people on board, mostly Russians, died, making it the worst disaster in Russian aviation history.

IS announced on the same day that the rebel group had shot down a Russian plane "carrying at least 220 Russian crusaders".

However, Russian and Egyptian officials quickly denied this information. IS does not possess anti-aircraft weapons that can reach the altitude of 9,450 m of the Russian passenger plane. Experts say that IS's claim of shooting down the plane is likely just a show of prestige.

According to VNE