According to Dutch intelligence, Sergey Cherkasov, 36, spent 12 years building the false identity of Viktor Muller Ferreira, 33
Identified Russian spy Sergey Vladimirovich Cherkasov (pictured), who has been held in Brasilia federal prison since January this year, fabricated a meticulous farce under the veil of a covert story to “warm up” his alleged Brazilian citizenship.
Documents, part of an investigation by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), show that the spy pretended, among other things, to have lived in the federal district and frequented bars, restaurants and nightclubs in the country’s capital.
The Russian was arrested by federal police in São Paulo. He used a fake Brazilian identity to try to infiltrate the International Criminal Court in The Hague. According to Dutch intelligence, Sergey Cherkasov, 36, spent 12 years building the false identity that of Viktor Muller Ferreira, 33, who was born in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro.
In his hoax, the spy says that he moved to Brasília in 2010 and stayed in a cheap pension where he would pay around R$ 550 per month. Between studying Portuguese and touring around the republic’s capital, the spy fell in love with Brazilian cuisine, especially restaurants that serve food by the kilo.
1/2Sergey Cherkasov was deported from Holland when he tried to enter the country under false identity ▲He was arrested by the PF at the International Airport of SP and is currently being held in Brasília ▲12
Feijoada
In the letter that the Russian wrote probably with a translation program about his experiences in the DF, he talks about his preference for bars, snack bars and discotheques that he allegedly went to.
The spy said he became a fan of the A Tribo restaurant in Asa Norte. “This restaurant makes the best feijoada in town,” he guarantees. The Russian’s aim was to lend an air of legitimacy to his false identity.
Sergey invented another farce as if he were a regular at some nightclubs that were popular in the DF at the time, most notably Setor de Clubes Sul. The spy mentioned the Macadamia concert venue, which had been a fixture on the city’s party scene for years.
Fake ID
Sergey Cherkasov, 36, spent 12 years building the false identity that of Viktor Muller Ferreira, 33, allegedly born in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro.
He would have arrived in Brazil in 2010. After that, he was already living under a false identity in the United States and in the Netherlands, where he had completed an internship at the International Criminal Court (ICC), also known as The Hague Criminal Court.
Already under surveillance, he recently came to Brazil and boarded a flight to Holland in April. Once there, the Dutch government refused him entry, which pointed out the forged documents, sent him back to Brazil and warned the Brazilian authorities. The Russian was arrested upon landing in São Paulo and is now in Brasília.
In addition to the warning, the Dutch shared the entire story with intelligence and investigative agencies in Brazil. The government has since learned that behind the forged documents was a man appointed by a foreign country as a Russian spy who tried to infiltrate the criminal court a case apparently with international resonance.
However, Brazil’s strategy was to keep everything in absolute secrecy. It should stay that way. Until some time after the arrest and in the face of the Brazilian silence, the Dutch secret service itself publicly stated that it had exposed the Russian agent.
The Spy’s Leaf
Dutch intelligence said in a statement last June that Sergey Cherkasov works for the GRU, Russia’s largest intelligence agency with foreign operations. The GRU is affiliated with the Russian Armed Forces.
“This was a longterm, multiyear GRU operation that took a lot of time, energy and money,” said Erik Akerboom of the Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service AIVD.
The Dutch said they decided to publicize the case to highlight Russian intelligence strategies that endanger international institutions like the International Criminal Court.
In a note, the agency explained that if the intelligence agent had managed to break into the ICC, it would have gathered information, recruited sources and even had access to the court’s digital systems.
The International Criminal Court is investigating possible war crimes by Russia and Putin in Ukraine.
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