U.S. Requests Extradition of Alleged Russian Spy from Brazil

The US has requested Brazil to extradite Sergey Cherkasov, an alleged Russian spy who was charged last month by the Justice Department with posing as a foreign student in Washington while carrying out espionage operations against the West. Cherkasov is serving a 15-year prison sentence in Brazil for document fraud related to his fake identity. Russia has denied that Cherkasov is a secret agent and instead filed its own extradition request accusing him of being a heroin trafficker.