Disguising As Brazilian Citizen, Russian Intelligence Caught While Trying To Infiltrate War Crimes Trial In Netherlands As Interns, Expelled Home

International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands. (Wikimedia Commons/OSeveno)

JAKARTA - Dutch intelligence services say they have arrested a Russian intelligence agent who tried to infiltrate the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, while an investigation into alleged war crimes in Ukraine is underway.

Sergey Vladimirovich Cherkasov made an elaborate cover story several years ago, to try and enter the Netherlands as a Brazilian citizen and apprentice at the Hague-based ICC in April, the agency's head told Reuters.

"This is a long-term, multi-year GRU operation that costs a lot of time, energy and money," said the head of the Dutch intelligence agency Erik Akerboom, using an acronym for Russia's military intelligence service.

No GRU representative was immediately available for comment, while President Vladimir Putin's government has frequently denied accusations of spying as a Western smear campaign against Moscow.

The Netherlands Public Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) said in a statement the man, who went by the alias Viktor Muller Ferreira, was picked up at a Dutch airport. He was declared an unwanted foreigner and placed on the next flight back to Brazil, he added.

Far away, Brazil's federal police said Cherkasov was being held and tried for the use of forged documents.

"This clearly shows us what Russia is doing, trying to gain illegal access to information inside the ICC. We classify this as a high-level threat," Akerboom added, saying the ICC had accepted him for an internship.

There was no immediate comment on the case from the Russian government or the ICC.

The Dutch agency said it had taken the unusual step of releasing detailed information about the case, to expose the workings of Russian intelligence and threats to other international agencies.