Former MI6 agent turned Soviet spy George Blake dies

In a condolence message, Mr Putin said: “Throughout the years of his hard and strenuous efforts he made a truly invaluable contribution to ensuring the strategic parity and the preservation of peace on the planet.

George Blake was a double agent who acted for the KGB (PA)

Former MI6 agent turned Soviet spy George Blake has died at the age of 98.

His death, reported by Russia’s state-owned news agency RIA Novosti, was confirmed by Sergei Ivanov, the head of the press bureau of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR).