Dutch authorities say they have thwarted a Russian spy’s attempt to enter the International Criminal Court (ICC) by posing as an inmate.
According to the Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD), an alleged agent of the Russian military intelligence service of the GRU had pretended to be a 33-year-old man from Brazil and traveled to the Netherlands since from Brazil in April.
The man was identified as Sergey Vladimirovich Cherkasov by Reuters news agency.
A Russian intelligence agent allegedly tried to infiltrate the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands. (Photo: (Michel Porro / Getty Images) (Getty)
He had successfully applied to be an ICC Fellow in The Hague and was traveling to the Netherlands to begin his internship, AIVD said.
But on arrival in the Netherlands, he was considered a “potentially very high” threat and denied entry, and was then sent back to Brazil.
“Such an officer is better known as ‘illegal’: an intelligence officer who received long and extensive training. Because of his alias identity, illegals are difficult. to discover, “the AIVD said in a statement.
“That’s why they often don’t detect them, which allows them to carry out intelligence activities. Because they present themselves as foreigners, they have access to information that would be inaccessible to a Russian national.”
Among other cases, the ICC is currently investigating allegations of Russian war crimes in Ukraine and crimes committed during the Russian war in Georgia in 2008. As a result, internal access to the ICC would have been “very valuable” for services. of Russian intelligence, the AIVD said. . The ICC is currently investigating allegations of Russian war crimes in Ukraine, including mass killings reported in the city of Bucha. (AP)
Cherkasov has been arrested in Brazil where “he is being prosecuted for using 15 false documents and remains in custody pending a first-degree sentence,” Brazilian police said.
“Using a sophisticated forgery system, he assumed the forged identity of a Brazilian man, whose parents have died,” Brazilian police said.
Cherkasov had previously lived in Ireland and the United States posing as a Brazilian, police added.
AIVD also published a four-page cover story on Thursday stating that Cherkasov had probably written it himself.
Aside from the basic facts and details about the fictional family of the accused Russian agent, the document describes his childhood, school, and anecdotes, including falling in love with a fictional geography teacher.
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CNN is contacting Russian authorities for comment.