 -- A new video released by the terror group ISIS purports to show a young boy coldly executing two men who the terror group claims were Russian spies.

A U.S. government official declined to comment on the authenticity of the video, and some observers online have noted that the event could have been staged. A former counter-terrorism official told ABC News, however, that the actual alleged murders appeared real enough to him. Russian officials declined to comment, according to international reports.

ISIS is not the first group to use children for gruesome propaganda, as just 11 days ago the Taliban released a video showing a much younger boy justifying that terror group’s campaign of violence in Pakistan.