Russian spy tried to infiltrate International Criminal Court - Dutch officials

Dutch intelligence has revealed that a deep-cover

a spy working for the Russian Military Intelligence Service, GRU, used a false Brazilian cover identity to travel from Brazil to the Netherlands.

The spy was supposed to start an internship with the International Criminal Court, which would mean he would have access to the ICC's building and systems.

He was detained on arrival in the Netherlands and sent back to Brazil on the next available flight.

The Dutch AIVD security service said in a statement: “If the intelligence officer had succeeded in commencing employment with 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."

The spy was an 'illegal’ - a particular type of deep-cover spy that Russia specializes in. He pretended to be Brazilian citizen Viktor Muller Ferreira, born on 4 April 1989, when in fact his real name is Sergey Vladimirovich Cherkasov, born on 11 September 1985.

The AIVD says Cherkasov used a well-constructed cover identity by which he concealed all his ties with Russia in general, and the GRU in particular.