Camilla Jessen
A New York Times investigation has uncovered how Russian intelligence agents spent years building false identities in Brazil.
A major investigation by The New York Times has revealed that Russian intelligence agents used Brazil as a base to forge new identities, establish elaborate cover stories, and quietly embed themselves across the globe — from Europe and the U.S. to the Middle East.
The exposé was published by the news outlet on May 21.
It details how at least nine Russian spies spent years living legally in Brazil under false identities, taking advantage of loopholes in the country’s civil registry system to obtain genuine documents.
These agents then used their Brazilian passports to travel freely and carry out international espionage missions on behalf of the Kremlin.
How It Worked: Real Papers, Fake Lives
The spies built their false identities using real Brazilian birth certificates, obtained through a legal loophole intended for rural residents with limited documentation.
By presenting two witnesses and claiming at least one Brazilian parent, they were able to secure legitimate documents, including passports, tax IDs, and voter registrations.
One of the most well-known cases involves “Victor Muller Ferreira,” who attempted to intern at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.
The CIA alerted Brazilian authorities after Dutch border officials blocked his entry.
He was later arrested in São Paulo, where investigators uncovered his true identity: Sergei Vladimirovich Cherkasov, a Russian spy.
Though he had legally obtained Brazilian documents, Cherkasov was convicted for document forgery and remains the only one of the exposed operatives currently in custody.
A Network Hidden in Plain Sight
Brazilian authorities, working with U.S. and European counterparts, soon uncovered additional suspicious identities:
- Artem Shmyrev, using the alias Gerhard Daniel Campos-Vittich, ran a 3D printing company in Rio de Janeiro. His colleagues described him as committed and trustworthy — but he was a deep-cover Russian agent, secretly communicating with his wife Irina, herself living undercover in Greece.
- Others, including Ekaterina Danilova, Vladimir Danilov, Olga Tyutereva, Alexander Utehin, Irina Antonova, and Roman Koval, are still at large and believed to be active or recently returned to Russia.
One more operative, Mikhail Mikushin, used a Brazilian identity to work as a researcher in Norway and was later returned to Russia in 2024 during a prisoner exchange.
Brazil Issues Interpol Alerts
Brazilian police have since flagged the case as a national security concern and have issued Interpol notices for the remaining suspects.
Authorities believe the exposed network may only represent a fraction of similar schemes still operating in Brazil and elsewhere.
“These were not sloppy operations,” one Brazilian intelligence official told The New York Times.
They were patient, professional, and nearly invisible.
The New York Times report also draws parallels to recent cases in Europe, including the sentencing of Orlin Roussev, a Bulgarian national who operated in the UK under false pretenses.
He was convicted of conspiring to commit espionage and received a 10-year sentence.