Islamic State new video calls for 'jihad' against Russia

The Islamic State group threatened to strike Russia on Sunday, urging its militants to carry out a ‘holy war’ in their latest propaganda video.

The militant group called on its fighters to proceed with any available weapons to carry out "jihad", against Russia, which has intervened militarily in Syria to fight IS and other jihadists, but also moderate Syrian rebels.

"Listen Putin,” a masked militant warns, “we will come to Russia and will kill you at your homes ... Oh Brothers, carry out jihad and kill and fight them," as he drove a car through an unknown desert.

The nine-minute footage, uploaded onto video-sharing platform YouTube, was published on a Telegram account used by the militant group.

On Sunday, the group’s Dabiq magazine was released carrying a strongly anti-Christian and anti-Western message.

Themed 'Break The Cross', the magazine attacks Christianity throughout the issue, with writers attempting to use scholarly and theological justifications for IS' war on the West.

Although officials maintain it has lost significant ground and influence, the Islamic State group has conducted several attacks on European mainland in recent weeks.

Dabiq praised a bloody attack in Nice on 14 July, when a man drove a lorry into crowds on packed streets, and showed images from the murder scene. 

It also mentions a mass shooting in an Orlando gay club by a lone gunman, the beheading of a priest in France, two attacks in Germany and murderous assaults claimed by IS in Bangladesh. 

It said that these led to the "martyrdom [of] twelve soldiers of the caliphate" and "killed or injured 600 Crusaders".

The attacks targeted Europe’s civilian population, killing young and old, women and children indiscriminately – prompting analysts to believe the attacks are a sign of weakness of the group, and were likely copy-cat assaults by lone wolves rather than direct orders by leadership ranks in Raqqa, IS's de facto capital in Syria.