KGB defector Oleg Gordievsky, who helped change course of Cold War, dies aged 86

Oleg Gordievsky, a former deputy head of the KGB in London has died (Dennis Cook/AP)

Oleg Gordievsky, a Soviet KGB officer agent who helped change the course of the Cold War by covertly passing secrets to Britain, has died at the age of 86.

Mr Gordievsky, who had lived in England since he defected in 1985, was considered by historians to be one of the era’s most important spies.