A young woman who vanished nine years ago without a trace when she was just 14 after being radicalised is believed to have been found after she was photographed in a refugee camp.
Maria Ershova from Kirishi, a town in the Leningrad Oblast around 160 kilometres (100 miles) southeast of Saint Petersburg, disappeared when she was just a teenager in 2015.
Russian authorities believe that she crossed the Turkish-Syrian border after flying to Istanbul on her own.
Now images showing a young woman believed to be Ershova have appeared in Russian media.
They depict a woman wearing a chador, a full-length cloak that covers the entire body except the face.
One of the photographs shows the woman next to a gaunt bearded man.
Ershova has reportedly abstained from communicating with her family ever since she left her hometown of 52,000 residents to travel to the country torn by civil war.
Russian media report that she initially supported IS members by taking care of daily-life chords such as washing, cooking and buying groceries before undergoing military training.
Investigators allegedly assume that Ershova, who is now 23 years old, lives in the Al-Hawl refugee camp in the Syrian-Iraqi-Turkish border triangle.
ISIS Bride Who Toted AK-47 In Dock In Germany
Nominally operated by the Syrian Democratic Forces, an association of rebel groups backed by the United States. The camp has branded ‘Al-Hawl mini-state’ due to the increasing influence of IS and its recruitment activities.
Ershova could be charged in absence with joining a terrorist organisation as the Islamic State is banned in Russia.
Russia is one of the most loyal allies of Syria’s autocratic leader Bashar al-Assad in the ongoing civil war which erupted in 2011.
By selling weapons of various kinds to the Syrian troops, the Russian arms industry has massively benefited from the conflict which has killed and displaced millions of people.
The IS not only fights the Assad regime but also numerous other parties engaged in the civil war such as Kurdish forces who try to sustain their community in the area.
Russian authorities have not commented on the reports claiming that Ershova has joined the Islamic State.
If found guilty, Ershova faces up to 20 years in jail if she ever returns to her home country.
It is understood that the investigations into Ershova’s whereabouts and activities continue.
