The Netherlands blocks Russian spy seeking access to International Criminal Court

June 16 (UPI) -- The Netherlands said Thursday that it has stopped a Russian intelligence officer from gaining access as an intern to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

The court is investigating possible war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine.

The alleged Russian spy purporting to be Brazilian was refused entry into The Netherlands in April and was sent back to Brazil on the first flight out, according to the Netherlands General Intelligence and Security Service, known by the Dutch acronym AVID.

AVID said in a statement that, "The Russian intelligence officer purported to be Brazilian citizen Viktor Muller Ferreira (born on 4 April 1989), when in fact his real name is Sergey Vladimirovich Cherkasov (born 11 September 1985)."

The security service said Cherkasov "used a well-constructed cover identity by which he concealed all his ties with Russia in general, and the GRU in particular."

The Netherlands intelligence service said covert access to the International Criminal Court would be highly valuable to the Russian Intelligence services.

According to the Netherlands, if the intelligence officer had succeeded in gaining access as an intern he "would have been able to provide a significant contribution to the intelligence that the GRU is seeking. He might also have been able to influence criminal proceedings of the ICC."

The Netherlands said the ICC has been informed of this case.

The Russian spy fooled a Johns Hopkins University professor in the United States into giving him a letter of recommendation for the internship at ICC.

Professor Eugene Finkel said Thursday that he was fooled by the man he believed to be Brazilian.

"I wrote him a letter. A strong one, in fact," Prof. Finkel tweeted. "Yes, me. I wrote a reference letter for a GRU officer. I will never get over this fact. I hate everything about the GRU, him, this story. I am so glad he was exposed."