Trinity-educated Russian spy caught trying to infiltrate International Criminal Court
Sergey Vladimirovich Cherkasov studied political science at Trinity College in Dublin between 2014 and 2018 and graduated with first-class honours.
A Russian spy who was caught by Dutch security forces trying to get an internship at the International Criminal Court (ICC) using a Brazilian alias spent four years studying in Ireland, it emerged on Thursday night.
Sergey Vladimirovich Cherkasov, 36, who has been accused of being an agent of Russia’s GRU military intelligence, flew to the Netherlands in April, believing he had succeeded in an extraordinary attempt to work in the war crimes court in the Hague, using the false identity of a Brazilian citizen, Viktor Muller Ferreira, 33.
At the time, the ICC had begun to investigate alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine, and Dutch intelligence believes that had he succeeded in infiltrating the ICC, he would have had access to the court’s email systems and might have been able to copy, tamper with, or destroy documents or evidence submitted.
The case bears remarkable similarities to the US spy-drama series, , which features two Soviet KGB intelligence officers posing as an American married couple living in Virginia.
Cherkasov's Irish connection is revealed in his CV, has reported.
It states that Cherkasov, posing as Muller, studied political science at Trinity College in Dublin, between 2014 and 2018, and graduated with a first class honours in November 2018. He claimed to have achieved a QCA of 3.87.
He then travelled to the US to pursue a masters at John Hopkins in Baltimore, majoring in US foreign policy. University records there show that he graduated in 2020.
Although he started in Brazil in around 2010, Cherkasov, posing as Muller, then moved through several countries, constructing his elaborate false identity over many years.
It marked him out as one of Russia’s prized programme of “illegals” — a spying programme that dates back to the cold war and which has been revived extensively under Vladimir Putin.
Illegals are Russian agents who are given false credentials from another country and tasked with building up a fake identity over many years, keeping it secret from partners and children, with a view to eventually reaching a position of influence.
However, Cherkasov’s real identity was revealed by western intelligence officers, and he was detained by Dutch immigration officials when he arrived at an airport in April to take up his position at the ICC.
He has been sent back to Brazil where he now faces court proceedings from the Brazilian authorities.
Erik Akerboom, the director general of the Dutch intelligence agency, said:
The ICC offers 200 internships per year for students and graduates in fields such as law and social psychology. A spokeswoman for the court said it was grateful for the support of the Dutch authorities.
“The ICC takes these threats very seriously,” she added.
Eugene Finkel, an associate professor at Johns Hopkins, tweeted that Muller was a former student who presented himself with “Brazilian/Irish roots” and who had asked him to supply a reference to support his application to the ICC.
“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,” Finkel tweeted.
