Putin continues to exploit his friendship with Brasilia. Lula's government refuses to extradite Cherkasov, the Russian agent who tried to infiltrate the Hague Court with a false passport, to the US. Meanwhile, fears of cyber-penetration by hackers for the Kremlin grows, writes Maria Zuppello.
Russia's long shadow continues to stretch over Brazil and now spans many sectors, including cyber and real estate. Above all, the next few days are likely to offer a surprise twist on what now has all the makings of a spy story straight out of a John le Carré novel. On Thursday 27th July came the Brazilian government's "no" to the extradition to the United States of Sergei Cherkasov, a John Hopkins graduate and Russian GRU spy with the false Brazilian identity of Viktor Muller Ferreira, who was returned to Brazil by the Dutch authorities before he could start an internship at the International Court at The Hague, Netherlands He has been in prison since April 2022, first in São Paulo and latterly in Brasilia.