Interpol has issued an international arrest warrant for the Russian Islamic State militant shown beheading his countryman in a video released by the terror group early in December, Russian media reported Friday. A high-priority “Red Notice,” calling for his location and detention “with a view to extradition or similar lawful action,” has been published on the organization's official website.
The killer — who has been identified as Anatoly “Tolik” Zemlyanka, a native of the west Siberian city of Noyabrsk, and dubbed “Jihadi Vlad” or “Jihadi Tolik” by some news outlets — has now been charged in absentia with “involvement with an illegal armed group” at the request of Russian authorities, the Interfax news agency wrote quoting an unidentified source.
Footage showing the execution by Zemlyanka of the Chechen Mogamed Khasiyev, whom the Islamic State identified as a Russian spy, made headlines on Dec. 2, with Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov confirming that the victim came from the Caucasian republic amid reports that his involvement with secret services was “doubtful.”
In the video, titled “You Shall be Disappointed and Humiliated O Russians,” Zemlyanka was pictured speaking Russian as he stood behind the kneeling prisoner holding a knife.
“Here today, on this blessed land, the battle [against Russia] begins. We shall kill your children for every child you've killed here,” he said addressing Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The British Daily Mail newspaper on Tuesday published pictures of him giving the Nazi salute as a teenager, quoting his Orthodox Christian mother as saying he had been “brainwashed” in Syria after reportedly joining the Islamic State in 2013.
The Islamic State is banned in Russia as a terrorist organization.
