New Russian-language magazine aims at recruiting Chechen jihadis for ISIS

Russia Insider: ISIS Now Spewing Its Propaganda in New Russian Language Magazine

New Russian-language publication aimed at recruiting Russian Muslims to join ISIS’s fanatical campaign of Salafist conquest in the Middle East

Omar al-Shishani, Georgian-born ISIS commander

The US-aided ISIS terror machine is now disseminating its formidable propaganda in the Russian language. The recently-released first issue of ‘Istok’, which translates to ‘Origin’ or ‘Outflow’, by the group’s Al-Hayat media wing, gives a brief history of the organization going all the way back to its beginnings in the wake of the 2003 US invasion. Its contributors regail its intended audience with stories of how they battled Russian ‘tyranny’ in the Caucasus before embarking on greater jihad under the banner of the so-called ‘caliph’ Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The publication serves as a complement to its English language version entitled ‘Dabiq’, an area in northern Syria believed to be the location of an apocalyptic end-times battle between the forces of Islam and those of the Kuffar (infidels).

Given the popularity of Caucasian fighters in jihadist movements, it is not surprising that such a publication should emerge; but rather, that it has taken this long to happen. Due to their years-long struggle against the Russian state – along with all the military experience it instilled in them – Caucasian jihadists are considered prized fighters and are afforded considerable respect among the native jihadis.

Chief among them is the notorious Georgian-born, Chechen-descended Tarkhan Batirashvili, better known by his nom de guerre, Abu Omar al-Shishani, or Omar al-Shishani (Omar the Chechen). Batirashvili served in the Georgian army and fought against the Russians in Georgia’s failed South Ossetia debacle of 2008 where he mostly spied on Russian tank columns and relayed their coordinates to artillery command.

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