A New York Times investigation has revealed how Russian intelligence services systematically used Brazil to manufacture fake identities for deep-cover spies—known as “illegals”—who later infiltrated Western institutions across the globe. At least nine such officers have been identified, including Artem Shmyrev, who posed for six years as a 3D printing entrepreneur in Rio de Janeiro under the alias Gerhard Daniel Campos Wittich.

The spies' goal wasn’t to target Brazil itself, but to use authentic Brazilian documents to embed themselves in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. Brazil’s relatively permissive birth certificate system and globally accepted passport made it an ideal launch point.

Brazil Quietly Dismantles the Network

Brazilian federal agents launched Operation East after the CIA flagged Sergey Cherkasov, a Russian GRU officer who entered the Netherlands under a Brazilian alias to intern at the International Criminal Court. That tip exposed a wider Kremlin operation. Brazil’s counterintelligence painstakingly sifted through millions of civil records to uncover “ghosts”—real birth certificates linked to people who had never existed.

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Brazilian authorities arrested Cherkasov for using fraudulent documents, the only viable charge. Others, like Shmyrev, fled just ahead of arrest warrants. Surveillance and seized data helped identify several others now believed to be back in Russia or elsewhere in hiding.

Global Impact and Interpol Exposure

Despite few arrests, Brazil dealt a significant blow to Moscow’s covert operations. Interpol blue notices were issued, publicizing photos and fingerprints of exposed agents. Western intelligence agencies confirmed real Russian identities behind false Brazilian names, including agents operating in Portugal, Uruguay, and Namibia.

Brazil’s unique diplomatic neutrality made the discovery especially striking—and prompted officials to retaliate by “burning” the spies rather than pursuing traditional prosecution.

Putin’s “Special People” Strategy Unravels

This espionage method—training agents to abandon their Russian lives and become someone new—is a relic of Soviet-era spycraft. Putin, once a KGB officer in East Germany, has extolled these deep-cover operatives as elite defenders of Russia. However, the Ukraine war prompted tighter Western cooperation, making such long-term infiltration harder to sustain.

“The world became too dangerous for them,” said one intelligence official. With the spies’ covers blown, many are unlikely to ever serve abroad again.