Brazilian authorities said they have rejected a request by the United States to extradite Sergei Cherkasov, who Washington alleges collected information on the war in Ukraine while posing as a graduate school student.
According to Brazil’s Justice and Public Security Ministry, Washington's request is without grounds as Brazil’s Supreme Court had already approved Cherkasov's extradition to Russia, which had been paused as Cherkasov is currently under investigation on espionage charges in Brazil.
In addition, Cherkasov is currently serving a prison term in Brazil he was handed for document forgery, the statement said.
In June 2022, authorities in the Netherlands said they had prevented a Russian spy, identified as Cherkasov, from infiltrating the International Criminal Court (ICC) as it investigates war crimes allegedly committed by Russian troops during Moscow's ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The General Intelligence and Security Service of the Netherlands (AIVD) said at the time that the suspect came to the country in April 2022 using an elaborate deep cover story that he had built up over the previous 12 years.
According to AIVD, Cherkasov is an agent with Russia's military intelligence (GRU) and used a fake identity to portray himself as a 33-year-old Brazilian citizen named Viktor Muller Ferreira.
The statement also said that Cherkasov was immediately deported to Brazil upon his arrival, where he was arrested on a charge of identity fraud.
Brazilian police said then that Cherkasov initially arrived in the country in 2010, positioning himself as a Brazilian national. He then resided for several years in Ireland and the United States before he returned to Brazil and started preparations to move to the Netherlands.
In April this year, the United States officially requested Brazil to extradite Cherkasov, saying the Russian man had conducted espionage activities in Washington in 2018, posing as an international student.
However, Russia was first to request Cherkasov's extradition, saying the man is suspected of international drug trafficking.
Bellingcat and The Insider investigative groups suggested then that Russia's move was to secure Cherkasov's safe return to Moscow.
The Wall Street Journal has named Cherkasov as a possible candidate for exchange for its correspondent Evan Gershkovich, who was detained while on a reporting trip in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg in late March.