Russia is verifying intelligence that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed near Raqqa, Syria, during a bombing raid conducted by its forces in May, Russia's Defense Ministry said.
The ISIS-run Aamaq news agency did not confirm the death of the militant leader.
In a statement, the Russian military said drones had been monitoring the area in expectation of IS leaders' gathering.
Russian Federation announced Friday it may have killed the leader of ISIS in an airstrike in Syria last month.
The Defense Ministry said through Sputnik that "about 30 mid-level commanders and up to 300 militants" were also killed in the strike in the Northern Syrian city.
NAIJ.com had earlier reported that al-Baghdadi's preaching is believed to have inspired the recent attack on Europe.
"According to information that is being verified through various channels, the leader of ISIS".
US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces have been pushing into Raqa on three fronts, last Tuesday breaking into the IS bastion from the east for the first time. Reports suggest he was radicalised during the four years he was held at Camp Bucca, a USA prison in southern Iraq where many al-Qaeda commanders were detained. The last time Baghdadi spoke out was in an audio released November 3, in which he urged followers to defend Mosul against an offensive launched the month before by the Iraqi armed forces and the US -led military coalition.
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Syrian troops and allied militias advanced within miles of a strategic airbase controlled by USA -backed forces west of Raqqa city on Thursday, the United Kingdom-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
The Russian defense ministry statement said the US was warned of the May 28 strike.
The ministry said the air strike had targeted a meeting of ISIS leaders on May 28 and they believe al-Baghdadi may have been present. The United States supports Kurdish and Arab fighters in Syria who are separately planning an assault on Raqqa.
It added that the U.S. had been warned of the incoming strike.
The report of al-Baghdadi's death comes as ISIS has suffered major setbacks.
Born Ibrahim al-Samarrai, Baghdadi is a longstanding Islamist militant who was a low-level al Qaeda operative when he was captured by US forces in Falluja in 2004.
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He did not swear allegiance to the leader of the al-Qaeda franchise, Ayman al-Zawahiri, who had urged IS to focus on Iraq and leave Syria to al-Nusra.
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