A man named Viktor Muller Ferreira is said to have spent years building a false identity before applying for an internship at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. However, the Dutch authorities unmasked the man and refused him entry.
The Dutch security agency AIVD said in a press release that the man’s real name is Sergey Vladimirovich Cherkasov. “The threat posed by this intelligence worker is considered potentially very high,” it said in a statement. For those who knew him, Viktor Muller Ferreira was a Brazilian with an interest in international affairs. In reality, however, according to the AIVD, he was a Russian “illegal” spy.
Russian intelligence uses the name “illegal” to distinguish such officers from “legal” spies who are covertly posing as diplomats. Russia has long specialized in a type of illegal secret agent who takes on a completely different nationality. These spies pretend to be American, British, Canadian or – in Ferreira’s case – Brazilian to enable them to move into circles where Russians would be suspicious and therefore have a harder time operating.
Russian intelligence has long targeted the ICC. Ferreira is said to have been pushing for an internship in The Hague since last year. The ICC advertises 200 unpaid internships every year. The Court’s importance has grown since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. On March 3, ICC prosecutors launched an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.
