GRU operative Sergey Vladimirovich Cherkasov, 37, masqueraded as a South American student named Victor Ferreira and even applied for a job at the International Criminal Court, in order to position himself inside the American security establishment.

The Justice Department claims Cherkasov entered the U.S. in 2018 in hopes of gathering intel on Americans and made connections with a State Department employee, a Capitol Hill worker, and other security officials. …

In 2022, the Russian spy tried to access the International Criminal Court in the Hague, reportedly to obtain information on the investigation into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

[He’s presently serving a 15-year term in Brazil for fraud and espionage. Russia has tried to extradite him, but so far it’s no go. One has to wonder whether Vladimir Putin had the WSJ reporter arrested in Yekaterinburg as a potential hostage for Cherkasov. — Ed]