A Russian national, who tried to infiltrate the International Criminal Court last summer, was charged on Friday with espionage in the United States, where he is accused of having lived under a false identity for two years. Sergei Cherkassov, 37, “worked as an illegal agent of the Russian intelligence services under the Brazilian alias Victor Muller Ferreira”, according to a statement from the federal prosecutor in Washington.
According to the indictment, he started operating under this identity in Brazil in 2010 and built a “legend” with a fictitious aunt, a deceased mother and few friends, before entering the States. States in 2018 on a student visa. In April 2022, he had attempted to enter as an intern at the International Criminal Court (ICC), which sits in The Hague, the Netherlands, and is investigating war crimes charges in Ukraine targeting Russia. According to court documents, Moscow has sought his extradition, accusing him of drug trafficking dating back to 2011 and 2013.