Notorious British traitor George Blake who claimed to have betrayed 600 agents to the Russians as a double agent during the Cold War dies in Moscow aged 98
- George Blake died aged 98 in Moscow, Russian foreign intelligence revealed
- Blake claimed to have betrayed 600 agents to the Russians as a double agent
- He had been living in Moscow since his escape from Wormwood Scrubs in 1966
Notorious British traitor George Blake has died aged 98 half a century after he claimed to have betrayed 600 agents to the Russians as a double agent during the Cold War, Russian foreign intelligence announced today.
The 98-year-old spy had been living in Moscow since he escaped from Wormwood Scrubs in 1966.
‘The bitter news has come – the legendary George Blake is gone,’ said Sergey Ivanov, spokesman for the SVR foreign intelligence agency, formerly the KGB. ‘He died of old age, his heart stopped.’
Blake was sentenced to a record 42-year jail sentence in London in 1961 for spilling MI6 secrets to the Soviet Union, sending dozens of Western agents to their deaths.
George Blake (pictured) has died aged 98. The spy had been living in Moscow since he escaped from Wormwood Scrubs in 1966
He went on the run after climbing over the London prison’s wall in 1966, soon after England won the World Cup.
Later he crossed into East Berlin and into the hands of his grateful Soviet spymasters.
Blake marked his 98th birthday last month with a message from spymaster Sergey Naryshkin who said: ‘From the chiefs of SVR and me personally please accept warm and sincere wishes.’
At his death he was the oldest KGB veteran.
Visually impaired in his latter years, he continued to ‘spy’ on Britain by tuning into BBC radio, said friends.
The British traitor had been holed up at his dacha – country house – near Moscow which was a gift of the KGB amid efforts to keep him safe from coronavirus.
Blake was sentenced to a record 42-year jail sentence in London in 1961 for spilling MI6 secrets to the Soviet Union, sending dozens of Western agents to their deaths
In Soviet times, Dutch-born Blake (pictured in 2001) was awarded with the Order of Lenin and Order of the Red Banner
Despite being a fugitive from justice in Britain since 1966, he kept in contact with the three sons he deserted when he fled to Moscow via East Berlin.
Earlier this year Ivanov had said: ‘George Blake walks a lot in the fresh air, listens to his favourite classical music, regularly communicates with relatives and friends on the phone, and consults his physicians remotely…
‘The SVR is in constant remote contact with him and his relatives, and provides health monitoring for this honoured person.’
In Soviet times, Dutch-born Blake was awarded with the Order of Lenin and Order of the Red Banner.
Rossiyskaya Gazeta said his latest honour from Moscow was as ‘patriarch of Russian foreign intelligence.’
In Russian he was known as Colonel Georgiy Ivanovich Bleyk. To the end Blake insisted he had ‘no regrets’ and showed no remorse.
He was eulogised in an official portrait.