A fighter of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stands guard on a rooftop in Raqa on October 20, 2017, after retaking the city from Islamic State (IS) group fighters. (AFP PHOTO)
Moscow, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- Russia doubts the credibility of a report by a United States-based research company that 3,500 Russians are fighting for the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group, the Kremlin said Thursday.
"We do not assess the results of the report in any way. First, we do not quite understand to what extent we can trust the cited data, what it is based on... what information sources that organization has...We tend to doubt the credibility of that information," the Sputnik news agency quoted Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov as saying.
Those who have joined terrorists and are fighting against Russian servicemen are criminals doomed to be destroyed, Peskov added.
The report, released Tuesday by the Soufan Group, a New York-based security consultancy, claimed that Russia or the former Soviet region is the largest source of foreign militants in the IS in Syria and Iraq, with nearly 3,500 militants from Russia alone.