Islamic State (IS) released a new video threatening Russian President Vladimir Putin that it plans to come to Russia and “free Chechnya”, while showing militants posing on a Russian-made Sukhoi fighter jet at Syria’s Taqba Air Base captured from Syrian government forces.

“This message is for you, Vladimir Putin!  These are the aircraft you sent to (Syrian President) Bashar (al-Assad), and we’re going to send them to you.  Remember that!” said one militant.  Russia was Syria’s only friend outside of Iran and supplied a lot of military hardware to Assad’s regime before it became the lesser of two evils.  Putin also sent jets to Iraq to help it fight IS.

“This is Russian technology,” said another with a Russian accent.

Russia’s state security services believe hundreds of militants from the predominantly-Muslim Caucasus have traveled to Syria and Iraq to fight for Islamic State. Islamic extremists and terror groups despise Putin for crushing attempts to set up an Islamic state in Chechnya, and in other mainly Muslim regions of southern Russia such as Dagestan.

At least one IS commander took part in the 2008 Russia-Georgia War, spying on Russian tanks and relaying their positions back to Georgian artillery.