This is the horrific moment two Russian mercenaries loyal to Vladimir Putin are forcibly driven to almost certain death after being captured by ISIS fighters now facing obliteration by Kremlin forces.
Bearded father-of-two Roman Zabolotny, 39, and his comrade, Grigory Tsurkanu, 38, are feared to have been executed in a town square as fanatics cheered shortly after this footage.
They refused to be filmed rejecting their Orthodox Christian faith and becoming ISIS-backing Muslims, according to one version of events.
The pair were held last week in intense fighting around the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, an ISIS stronghold in Syria.
The video shows the wounded men being moved as war trophies in a jihadist vehicle, their legs bound by rope and hands tied behind their backs.
Mr Tsurkanu appears to be in pain as the Russians struggle to understand they have been captured or the fate awaiting them.
With no common language, the terrorists try to ascertain if the two were troops sent by Putin.
The jihadists, who try to speak to the captives in French, also suspect them of being Iranian.
The footage shows Islamic State fighters struggling to communicate with the mercenearies
Two suspected Russian mercenaries named as Grigory Tsurkanu (left) and Roman Vasilievich Zabolotny (right), were shown being piled into a truck after Islamic State fighters caught them
But the Russians were members of a secret, deniable mercenary force deployed in Syria by the Kremlin as opposed to official troops on the Defence Ministry’s payroll.
Mr Zabolotny tries to communicate with his captors, saying: ‘I have information about weapons.’
The mercenaries were shown in a truck, which is believed to have transported them to a town square where they were executed
An ISIS propaganda video featuring the men later inaccurately referred to them as serving Russian soldiers.
There are suspicions a third Russian was also caught but no information has been released.
Grigory Tsurkanu was originally named as Grigory Mikhailovich Surkanov. He is now feared dead after reportedly being executed in front of a cheering crowd in a town square
Senior Russian MP Viktor Vodolatsky said it is unlikely the two have survived.
‘It is very sad but 99 per cent Roman Zabolotny is not alive, nor is the second prisoner,’ he said.
‘Before filming that video they were given a statement which they had to read.
The Russians were shown apparently being driven to their deaths by Islamic State fighters
‘In this text they would reject their Orthodox religion, reject their motherland, become Muslim and join ISIS.
‘They stayed loyal to the Orthodox faith and their motherland until the very end, and this is what they were killed by those gangsters for.’
There has been no official confirmation from the Russian authorities about their fate and Vladimir Putin is unlikely to speak publicly about mercenaries in Syria, though though experts say they work closely with the armed forces.
The pair were executed the same day the video was made in a town square, according to Anatoly Kotlyarov, an MP in Zabolotny’s home city of Rostov-on-Don.
‘Unfortunately, this is true,’ he said.
‘Information was received that they were executed’.
He told Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper his ‘trustworthy’ source ‘has never been mistaken in four years of our cooperation, especially when informing about the dead’.
When asked if there had been secret negotiations between Russian forces and ISIS over the captives, he said this was ‘secret information’ which he could not divulge.
Grigory Tsurkanu, pictured centre, is said to have been fighting for Russian Orthodox mercenaries who went to Syria to protect Christians from terrorists
An anonymous friend of father-of-two Zabolotny was also quoted saying he believed him dead.
‘Last time I saw him he was about to go there.
‘And when this video came out that he was captured, I used my own channels to clarify his fate.
‘He is dead. Those bastards executed him.’
Devout Orthodox believer Zabolotny was reported to have gone to Syria to protect Christians from terrorists.
A Russian group offered $1 million to ISIS for each of the men if they were freed.
A Zabolotny family member said they had not been informed he was dead.
‘Negotiations are going on, there is no information about his death,’ said the relative.
His father Vasily said: ‘I am worried about my son, I am hardly coping.
‘I am on the edge, sorry, I don’t want to speak more.’
Tsurkanu’s parents were reportedly told by the FSB secret service ‘not to make any noise’ in the media amid hopes he would be released soon.
The mercenary used to be a Russian paratrooper in the intelligence section of the country’s air assault forces.
Roman Vasilievich Zabolotny (left) was reportedly killed after being caught by jihadists.But a relative said negotiations are under way and there is no information about his death
The men were believed to be fighting for a group called Wagner private army.
Ruslan Leviev, founder of Conflict Intelligence independent investigation group, said the pair were mercenaries.
‘Our experience of watching this conflict tells us that Wagner private army mercenaries are the first to fight,’ he said.
‘We think it is a strategy of the Defence Ministry of Russia: sending mercenaries to the hottest places, we avoid losses among official soldiers and keep the image of a successful combat operation.’
Earlier, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov sidestepped a question about the fate of the men.
‘I repeat once again that, of course, the possible circumstances of their captivity and confirmation of their identity are things that are being dealt with by our relevant agencies,’ he said.