There are 10 American and European hostages among 700 taken by ISIS in Syria, according to Vladimir Putin. Putin, who made the claims in a televised interview, says the terrorist group has issued an ultimatum promising to execute 10 people every day.
The Russian president, speaking in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, said ISIS has expanded its presence in areas controlled by US and allied forces.
Putin said the hostages included several U.S. and European nationals but that no-one on the international stage was talking about the situation.
Everyone is silent, some kind of silence as if nothing is happening, he said.
They have issued ultimatums, specific demands and warned that if these ultimatums are not met they will execute 10 people every day. The day before yesterday they executed 10 people.
The TASS news agency reported on Wednesday that IS militants had taken around 700 hostages in Syria’s Deiral Zor province after attacking a refugee camp in an area controlled by U.S.-backed forces on October 13.
TASS said the militants had kidnapped around 130 families. He also did not elaborate on the nationalities of the European hostages.
The claims raise the appalling spectre of Jihadi John, the ISIS executioner responsible for cutting off the heads of hostages in a series of videos that unite the word in action against the terror organisation.
Among them were two British aid workers Alan Henning and David Haines.
Haines, 44, was captured by ISIS in Syria in March 2013 and beheaded in September 2014, in an horrific propaganda videos.
The father-of-two Mr Haines, born in Holderness, East Yorkshire, was working for Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development when he was abducted in northern Syria.
Alan, a taxi driver from Salford, travelled to Syria to help victims of its civil war but was captured within half an hour of entering the country in December 2013.
Putin was speaking at a public even at the Valdai International Discussion Club, which takes place from October 15-18 October.
Among the 50 guests are Russian ministers, diplomats and international experts discussing foreign policy, as well as the economy and culture of Russia.