The Dutch secret services have announced that they have prevented a Russian spy from gaining access - posing as an intern - to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is based in The Hague and investigates, among other things, war crimes in Ukraine.
If not disclosed in time, the man could have accessed the court's building and computers, collected information and located sources on behalf of the Russian military intelligence agency (GRU) for which he works.
In short, he could have "influenced the criminal proceedings of the ICC," which is investigating crimes committed in Ukraine after the start of the Russian invasion and also in the 2008 Georgian war, the Dutch intelligence agency (AIVD) said.
"Potentially very high-flying"
The individual was identified as 36-year-old Sergei Vladimirovich Serkasov. He was pretending to be a 33-year-old Brazilian named Victor Muller Ferreira in order to gain access to the ICC, the Dutch secret service added.
He was arrested in April at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport on a flight from Brazil to start his ICC internship after his application was approved, Dutch news agency ANP reported.
He was sent back to Brazil on the first flight, the AIVD said.
[BR][BR]The spy represented a "potentially very high threat" because it could have been of "great value to Russian intelligence services" to have one of their own inside the ICC facility, the Dutch intelligence agency added.
It is rare to capture an intelligence agent "of this level," said Eric Ackerboom, director general of the AIVD, according to ANP.
"The GRU had invested years in hiding his true identity. It's a huge effort," Ackerboom added, noting that the spy's revelation in April was only made public now so as not to adversely affect the investigation.
The fake identity
The Russian spy had spent many years building an identity, inventing a life down to the smallest details, the AIVD revealed in a document about his tastes and life course, written by him in Portuguese.
He allegedly had a troubled relationship with his parents, was disgusted by fish, was in love with a teacher and was nicknamed "Gringo" ("Foreigner") because he "looked like a German".
The Court expressed its gratitude to the Dutch authorities for this "important operation and for uncovering security threats in general," said Sonya Robla, an ICC spokeswoman, in a press release.
"The ICC takes these threats very seriously," she added."
This is not the first time that the Netherlands has uncovered Russian intelligence operations on its territory, in particular in The Hague, where many courts and international organisations are based.
In 2018, Dutch authorities deported four alleged Russian GRU spies accused of trying to violate the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which was investigating attacks in Syria.
Source: in.gr
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