Sergey Vladimirovich Cherkasov (aka Viktor Muller Ferreira) is a 36 year old Russian man. The Dutch government has accused Cherkasov of being a spy for the Russian government attempting to gain access to the International Criminal Court in the Hague.
Sergey Vladimirovich Cherkasov Allegations
Cherkasov Accused Of Being Russian Spy. “Dutch intelligence agency the AIVD (General Intelligence and Security Service) said it had refused a member of Russia’s GRU military intelligence entry into the country in April as a ‘threat to national security’. The AIVD named him as Sergey Vladimirovich Cherkasov, 36, saying he had claimed to be a 33-year-old Brazilian citizen named Viktor Muller Ferreira in his bid to access the Hague-based ICC, 40 miles south of Amsterdam. The ICC has been tasked with investigating war crimes in Ukraine, of which Russia stands accused of perpetrating many.” [Daily Mail]
Netherlands Gov’t: Cherkasov Was Russian Pretending To Be Brazilian. “The AIVD prevented a Russian intelligence officer from gaining access as an intern to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. The person in question works for the Russian Military Intelligence Service GRU, but he used a Brazilian cover identity to travel from Brazil to the Netherlands. The AIVD holds him to be a threat to national security, and the service informed the Dutch Immigration and Naturalization Service about this in an official report (“ambtsbericht”). On these grounds the intelligence officer was refused entry into the Netherlands in April and declared unacceptable. He was sent back to Brazil on the first flight out.” [Dutch AIVD Agency]
Dutch Gov’t: Russians Targeted ICC. “The International Criminal Court investigates possible war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine. The ICC is also investigating war crimes that took place during the Russian war in Georgia in 2008. For those reasons, covert access to International Criminal Court information would be highly valuable to the Russian intelligence services. The illegal was supposed to commence an internship with the ICC, which would mean he would have access to the ICC’s building and systems.” [Dutch AIVD Agency]
Dutch Gov’t: Spy Could Have Influenced ICC Proceedings. “If the intelligence officer had succeeded in gaining access as an intern to the ICC, he would have been able to gather intelligence there and to look for (or recruit) sources, and arrange to have access to the ICC’s digital systems. That way he would have been able to provide a significant contribution to the intelligence that the GRU is seeking. He might also have been able to influence criminal proceedings of the ICC.”[Dutch AIVD Agency]
Cherkasov Sent Back To Brazil. “Cherkasov had travelled under the name Viktor Muller Ferreira, claiming to be 33, but was detained when he arrived and sent back to Brazil the following day, having failed in his long-term deception. At the time, the ICC had begun to investigate alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine – and had Cherkasov succeeded he would have obtained access to the international court’s email systems and might have been able to copy, tamper with or destroy documents or evidence submitted to the court.” [Guardian]
Dutch Government: Russian Plot Was Long-Term Operation. ““This was a long-term, multi-year GRU operation that cost a lot of time, energy and money,” said Dutch intelligence agency chief Erik Akerboom, using the acronym for Russia’s military intelligence service. No GRU representative could be immediately reached for comment, though President Vladimir Putin’s government has in the past frequently denied spying accusations as a Western smear campaign against Moscow.” [Al Jazeera]
One of the first political bloggers in the world, Oliver Willis has operated OliverWillis.com since 2000. Contributor at Media Matters for America and The American Independent. Follow on Twitter at @owillis. Full bio.