INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The Netherlands said Thursday it had stopped a Russian spy posing as a Brazilian intern from infiltrating the International Criminal Court,
which is investigating war crimes in Ukraine.The Russian, identified as Sergey Vladimirovich Cherkasov, 36, flew to the Netherlands in April
using an elaborate deep cover story that he had built up over the past 12 years.But Dutch authorities said they saw through his fake
identity as 33-year-old Brazilian citizen named Viktor Muller Ferreira, and unmasked him as an agent of Moscow's GRU military
intelligence.Cherkasov was put on the next flight back to Brazil, where police said he was arrested for identity fraud.The Dutch said
Cherkasov could have accessed "highly valuable" intelligence on the ICC's probe into war crimes in Ukraine or even influenced criminal
proceedings at the Hague-based tribunal.The head of the Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service, or AIVD, said it was "very rare" to
catch a Russian agent "of this caliber.""The GRU has spent years creating this fake identity
It's an enormous effort," Erik Akerboom was quoted as saying by the Dutch ANP news agency.'Cover identity'Cherkasov was a so-called
ties with Russia, the AIVD said.In scenes that could have come from a spy novel, the Dutch even released a four-page document setting out
he "looked like a German" and includes full addresses of a restaurant in Brasilia with the "best brown stew in town" and a trance music
club, in an apparent attempt to back up his cover story.The Dutch intelligence service however pinpointed him as a "threat to national
security" and notified the immigration service."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," the AIVD said.The Russian's internship would have given him access to the ICC's
building and systems at a time when it is probing war crimes in Ukraine, including alleged Russian crimes since the Feb
24 invasion."For those reasons, covert access to International Criminal Court information would be highly valuable to the Russian
intelligence services," the AIVD said.Had the Russian spy succeeded "he would have been able to gather intelligence there and to look for
proceedings of the ICC."'Important operation'Brazil's federal police said they had arrested a man, whom they did not name, in April after he
was refused entry to the Netherlands because he was using fake ID."Using a sophisticated falsification scheme, he assumed the forged
identity of a Brazilian whose parents are already dead," the police said in a statement, adding that he remains in detention pending
trial.The Russian had entered Brazil in 2010 and also lived in Ireland and the United States, before returning to Brazil to prepare for his
move to the Netherlands.He was due to start a "six-month trial period at the International Criminal Court as a junior analyst in the
Preliminary Examinations Section," they said.The ICC thanked the Dutch for exposing the spy."The International Criminal Court was briefed by
the Dutch authorities and is very thankful to The Netherlands for this important operation and more generally for exposing security
threats," spokeswoman Sonia Robla said in a statement to AFP.There was no immediate reaction from Russia.The Dutch have a history of
trying to hack the global chemical weapons watchdog while it was investigating attacks in Syria.
