Web footage supposedly showing a US soldier shooting a Koran was made by a pro-Vladimir Putin 'internet troll factory', a new investigation claims.

The deeply shocking video depicts a foul-mouthed gunman in American-style uniform taking aim and blasting holes in the Muslim holy book.

It was posted last September, on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, and swiftly spread onto sites in Russia and the US.

'I'm going to shoot this mother****er,' said the soldier, with US stars and stripes insignia on his combat uniform, in what seems to be an arid warzone location.

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Staged: Footage showing a supposed US soldier (pictured, the actor in the video) shooting at a copy of the Koran was fabricated by a Russian 'internet troll factory', an investigation has claimed

Defaced: The video depicts a gunman in American-style uniform taking aim and blasting holes in the Muslim holy book (pictured)

The 1 minute 45 second video claimed he got hold of the Russian gun during a raid, and was testing it.

Repeatedly swearing in a fake-sounding US accent, the gunman shoots three bullets into the book using the semi-automatic Saiga 410.

He then examines the damage to the tome, although it is never stated that this is the Koran.

Now six months after it was first seen on the web, an investigation by the BBC Russian Service finds that the footage, far from showing a real US soldier, was made by a St Petersburg propaganda plant.

It is seen as a crude anti-American production by a shadowy army of internet warriors deployed to bolster the Kremlin.

The troll factory is notorious for waging an information war backing Putin and his policies at home and abroad, including his seizure of Crimea from Ukraine, and his controversial support for the Assad regime in Syria.

Old: The BBC Russia investigation claimed the soldier's (pictured, the actor in the video) Propper BDU Desert camouflage went out of use at the start of this decade

Fake: The suspected soldier (pictured, the man thought to be the actor) in the video swears repeatedly in a fake-sounding US accent before shooting three bullets into the book using an semi-automatic Saiga 410

Armies of trolls are paid 40,000 roubles a month - around £407 - to plant anti-Western comments in blogs and on websites in Russia and around the world.

'This footage is very likely indeed to have been made at the famous 'internet troll factory' in St Petersburg,' stated the BBC Russian report.

The voice of the hero was changed to make it more Afro-American. But standard taboo words and linguistic mistakes cannot be improved by the computer BBC Russia investigation

The investigation claims the 'soldier's' Propper BDU Desert camouflage went out of use at the start of this decade.

'It is possible to buy it cheaply in the Russian military uniform shop 'Voentorg,' said the report.

'Instead of a military helmet the man is wearing the Ops-Core FAST Base Jump helmet for training and extreme sports.

'It is possible to buy it in online shops. Webbed gear is used instead of a bulletproof vest and again it can be bought in 'Voentorg', along with the Mil-Tec keffiyeh.'

The report went on: 'The voice of the hero was changed to make it more Afro-American. But standard taboo words and linguistic mistakes cannot be improved by the computer.'

The original posting was on a YouTube account whose owner works at Moscow School Number 58, it was claimed.

Brainwashing: The troll factory is notorious for waging an information war backing Putin and his policies at home and abroad (left, the Koran the suspected soldier shot and an in tact copy of the holy book, right)

'This is what his page in Google+ says which is linked to the YouTube account.'

His name is allegedly Mayaese Johnson, but it is claimed there is no such person.

Despite this, around 50 people have this name in Google+ 'and many of them - what a coincidence - are also working in Moscow schools.

'Their accounts are empty. It is probable they were created only for liking videos on YouTube.'

In contrast, the Saiga weapon and the Koran are genuine, states the report.

This edition of the Koran is available online in Russia for 650 roubles - or £6.65.

The video was posted on 11 September 2015 onto anonymous twitter account ComradZampolit, and also in the account Vestnik Peterburga, said the BBC Russian report.

The latter links to Nevskie Novosti newspaper which was created by people close to pro-Kremlin businessman Evgeniy Prigozhin who is seen as the guiding hand behind the troll factory.

Prigozhin declined to comment to the BBC.

An anonymous article in another outlet sought to fuel anti-American Muslim outrage over the film.

'Such behaviour of American soldiers probably will not be appreciated by the president of the (mainly Islamic) Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov,' it stated.

Soon after an ally of Kadyrov - seen as one of Putin's closest supporters - posted in Instagram: 'Such things are not forgiven in Islam.'

Headquarters: The fake soldier's Instagram showed a geotag of 55 Savushkina Street, St Petersburg (pictured) - the address of the 'troll factory'

The BBC Russian Service claimed to have located a man resembling the 'soldier' in the video.

His photograph was posted on Instagram with a geotag of 55 Savushkina Street, St Petersburg - the address of the 'troll factory', it was reported.

He is believed to be a barman and is a friend of a woman who works at the troll plant.

The Editor in Chief of Voice of Islam website Dmitry Chernomorchenko told the BBC he is not surprised that the video may have originated 55 Savushkina Street.

'The Russian propaganda machine forces us to think that all the Western world is against any traditional values' he said.

The media is 'full of news about suppressed Muslims in the EU and USA, the secret services' following them, and locals being intolerant.'

He warned: 'Some fakes are presented -like this video with the shooting at the Koran.'

Yet the media in Russia 'keep silence about our own Muslim people, when dozens if not hundreds of them suffer from fake criminal investigations'.

Others 'are jailed for reading books and talking about religion in their kitchens'.

Some 'are tortured, kidnapped and killed.'

Whistleblowers who worked in the troll plant have revealed how it works.

Shooter: The BBC Russian Service claims to have located the man (pictured) resembling the 'soldier' shown in the video

Propaganda: Armies of trolls are paid 40,000 roubles a month - around £407 - to plant anti-Western comments in blogs and on websites in Russia and around the world (pictured, the so called 'troll factory')

Tatiana worked as part of a 500-strong team churning out web propaganda.

'You could be posing as a housewife who bakes dumplings,' she said, as long as the message sent to the web made clear that Putin 'saves Russia'.

After ex-deputy premier Boris Nemtsov was gunned down close to the Kremlin 13 months ago, an edict went out to portray it either as a Ukrainian act to embarrass Putin and harm Russia's relations with the West, or a killing by opposition rivals.