Sergey Vladimirovich Cherkasov (russian: Сергей Владимирович Черкасов), also known as Victor Muller Ferreira,''Russian National “Illegal” Charged with Acting as Agent of a Russian Intelligence Service in the United States.''
In: justice.gov, March 24, 2023. is an alleged Russian intelligence officer working for the

GRU The Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, rus, Гла́вное управле́ние Генера́льного шта́ба Вооружённых сил Росси́йской Федера́ци ...

, whose true identity was revealed by the Dutch

General Intelligence and Security Service The General Intelligence and Security Service ( nl, Algemene Inlichtingen- en Veiligheidsdienst, AIVD; ) is the intelligence and security agency of the Netherlands, tasked with domestic, foreign and signals intelligence and protecting national se ...

in 2022. He was first sentenced by a Brazilian federal court to 15 years in prison for using a forged Brazilian government-issued document,Marco Antônio Martins
''Espião russo que fingia ser brasileiro é condenado a 15 anos de prisão pela Justiça Federal.''
In: Globo.com, July 1, 2022. but the sentence was later reduced to 5 years and 2 months.
In: CNN.com, July 28, 2023.

Known background

According to his Russian passport, he was registered as a resident of Kaliningrad exclave; public registry data showed he was a co-owner of a Kaliningrad construction firm at the age of 19. His real age at the time of his arrest in 2022 appears to be 36, while the age of his alias is 33.

Cover story

The

Dutch Military Intelligence and Security Service The Military Intelligence and Security Service (Dutch: ''Militaire Inlichtingen- en Veiligheidsdienst'', MIVD) is the military intelligence service of the Netherlands. It was formerly known as the ''Militaire Inlichtingendienst'' (MID) and receiv ...

published a document in broken

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

that they stated was his

cover story Cover story or Cover Story may refer to: * A magazine or newspaper article whose subject appears on that issue's front cover, and may be profiled in depth. * A fictitious explanation intended to hide one's real motive; see disinformation, cover-u ...

. The document says that he went to

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

in August 2010 to meet his estranged father, whom he blamed for his problems, as well as for the deaths of his mother and his aunt. The document claimed he had forgotten his

, and asserted that he had moved to

Brasília Brasília (; ) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitsche ...

when he was supposedly 25 years old. He claimed he was in Brazil "to learn the language and restore my citizenship". Some details of this alleged background have been described as implausible. The document further mentions his having to visit Ireland to attend the funeral of his father.

Education

According to a CV posted online, he studied

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

from 2014 to 2018 for his first degree, then earned his Master's in a prestigious international relations program at Johns Hopkins University's

Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is a graduate school of Johns Hopkins University based in Washington, D.C., United States, with campuses in Bologna, Italy, and Nanjing, China. It is consistently ranked one of the ...

(SAIS), majoring in

U.S. foreign policy The officially stated goals of the foreign policy of the United States of America, including all the bureaus and offices in the United States Department of State, as mentioned in the ''Foreign Policy Agenda'' of the Department of State, are ...

. While pursuing his master's, he was a student of

Evgeny Finkel Evgeny Finkel or Eugene Finkel is a political scientist and historian at Johns Hopkins University who studies political violence, genocide, East European and Israeli politics, and Holocaust studies. In April 2022, Finkel claimed that after the in ...

. While studying in Ireland he was known to Irish counter-intelligence.

Attempt to enter International Criminal Court

In April 2022 he flew to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

to take up a position at the

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals ...

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

. He was detained at Schipol airport by Dutch immigration officials and returned to Brazil. Upon arriving in Brazil, he was arrested for

identity fraud Identity fraud is the use by one person of another person's personal information, without authorization, to commit a crime or to deceive or defraud that other person or a third person. Most identity fraud is committed in the context of financial ad ...

and is now serving 15 years. At the time of his hiring, the ICC had begun to investigate war crimes committed by the Russian army in Ukraine. Had he managed to take his ICC position, he would have had access to the ICC email and document systems.

Uncovering the spy

It is believed that a discovery made in 2018 in the

poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal On 4 March 2018, Sergei Skripal, a former Russian military officer and double agent for the British intelligence agencies, and his daughter, Yulia Skripal, were poisoned in the city of Salisbury, England. According to UK sources and the Organis ...

case, where the Russian GRU suspects were found to have passport numbers that were close to each other, led to an investigation by many countries of historic Russian passport numbers. Cherkasov was discovered by the USA to have a close number, identified and tracked, leading to a tip off to the Netherlands authorities.

Reactions to discovery

Eugene Finkel tweeted that the alleged spy was a former student who had claimed "Brazilian/Irish roots" and who had asked him for a reference letter for his application to the ICC. Finkel tweeted "I wrote him a letter. A strong one, in fact. Yes, me. I wrote a reference letter for a GRU officer. I will never get over this fact. I hate everything about GRU, him, this story. I am so glad he was exposed." The Dutch intelligence agency said "The threat posed by this intelligence officer is deemed potentially very high". Donnacha Ó Beacháin, a professor of politics in the School of Law & Government,

Dublin City University Dublin City University (abbreviated as DCU) ( ga, Ollscoil Chathair Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a university based on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. Created as the ''National Institute for Higher Education, Dublin'' in 1975, it enrolled its f ...

, said it was not surprising that he was educated in Ireland, but it was, in fact, surprising that he was caught. He added "Essentially these are

sleeper agent A sleeper agent, also called sleeper cell, is a spy who is placed in a target country or organization not to undertake an immediate mission but to act as a potential asset if activated. Even if unactivated, the "sleeper agent" is still an asset ...

s. The idea would be that - from a young age- they would build up a fake identity, and they would acquire different qualifications and credentials that would make them more plausible. Then they will be used to infiltrate Western organisations. Trinity College would be a very credible university based in a friendly western country. So from that perspective, placing an operative in Trinity and giving them a background there would be something that can be utilised later."

Conviction and extradition request

He was first sentenced by a Brazilian federal court to 15 years in prison for using a forged Brazilian government-issued document, but the sentence was later reduced to 5 years and 2 months. In July 2023, Brazilian authorities have declined a US request to extradite him, saying that he would eventually be sent to Russia instead. In a statement, Brazil’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security said that Brazil’s Federal Supreme Court approved on March 17, 2023 an application to extradite Cherkasov to Russia, where he is accused of “drug trafficking,” according to Russian state-run news agency TASS. In the United States, he was charged on March 24, 2023 for acting as an agent of a foreign power, visa fraud, bank fraud, wire fraud, and other charges stemming from his alleged illegal activities in the United States.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cherkasov, Sergey Vladimirovich Living people People from Kaliningrad Oblast GRU officers Russian spies Russian people imprisoned abroad Prisoners and detainees of Brazil Brazil–Russia relations Brazil–Netherlands relations Netherlands–Russia relations Date of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people)