According to a report by the New York Times on the 21st, Russia has long established a "spy factory" in Brazil, training a large number of intelligence personnel and using forged identities to send them abroad for gathering crucial intelligence, posing a serious threat to global peace and stability.

The report notes that Moscow authorities take advantage of the significant portion of the Brazilian population with European ancestry, along with the benefits of visa-free travel to many countries with a Brazilian passport. They exploit the outdated civil registration system to dispatch intelligence personnel to Brazil and, upon arrival, immediately erase their living history and identities in Russia, creating new identities through establishing businesses, making friends, and forming families.

The purpose of these hidden spies is not to monitor the Brazilian government or people, but to "become Brazilians." Once ready, they proceed to Europe, the United States, or Middle Eastern countries, carrying out intelligence collection actions as directed by the Russian side.

The report also mentions that since the outbreak of the Ukraine-Russia war in 2022, the Brazilian Federal Police have continued to investigate Russian spies hiding within the country. With the support of intelligence agencies from the United States, Israel, the Netherlands, and Uruguay, at least nine Russian operatives with various fake Brazilian identity documents have been discovered. Furthermore, the Ukrainian news site "UNITED24" reported that after the outbreak of the Ukraine-Russia war, one Russian spy was arrested and sentenced to 15 years in prison by a Brazilian court for the forgery of government documents including passports, voter registration papers, and reserve military certificates. Although Russia had requested extradition on drug trafficking charges, the Brazilian government refused, indicating that these actions have raised authorities' awareness, leading to a strengthened crackdown in the future.