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Russia Acts Against IS Propaganda on Nearly 900 Webpages

A fighter of the Islamic State holds an ISIL flag and a weapon on a street in the city of Mosul, Iraq.

Russia's media watchdog has taken action against almost 900 webpages supporting the Islamic State, the Izvestia newspaper reported Wednesday.

The watchdog, Roskomnadzor, found 899 pages containing extremist information such as requests for donations or offering advice on how to cross from Russia to Syria and Iraq, where IS controls swathes of territory. Many of the pages operated under the guise of tourism services, according to Izvestia.

After receiving warnings, 863 websites deleted the offending information, while access to 36 pages was blocked, the paper said, citing a Roskomnadzor report.

Officials estimate that some 2,400 Russians are already fighting with IS, though some experts have said the figure could be at least twice that.

In June, media reported that the terrorist group had used Russian social networks to recruit a 19-year-old Moscow student, Varvara Karaulova.

Several days after Karaulova was reported missing, she was detained at the Turkish border with Syria, where she had allegedly planned to join IS.

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