London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Aug 10, 2025

George Blake: Cold War British-Soviet double agent dies aged 98 in Moscow

George Blake: Cold War British-Soviet double agent dies aged 98 in Moscow

Cold War British-Soviet double agent George Blake has died aged 98 in Moscow, according to Russian state news agency RIA.

Russia's SVR foreign intelligence agency reportedly confirmed the news, with a spokesman quoted as saying: "We received some bitter news - the legendary George Blake passed away."

Blake was the last in a line of spies whose work for the Soviet Union humiliated Britain's intelligence establishment when it was uncovered at the height of the Cold War.

Britain says he exposed the identities of hundreds of Western agents across eastern Europe in the 1950s - some of whom were executed as a result.


This image of Blake was issued after his escape from Wormwood Scrubs


He was the most notorious double agent alongside a separate ring of former Cambridge students known as the Cambridge Five.

Blake famously escaped from London's Wormwood Scrubs prison in 1966, with the help of two peace activists and other inmates.

He was smuggled out of the country in a camper van, leaving behind his wife and three children, just a few years after being sentenced to 42 years in jail.

Blake went by the Russian name Georgy Ivanovich and held the rank of lieutenant colonel in the former KGB security service.

He was awarded a medal by President Vladimir Putin in 2007 and never expressed any regrets about his actions.


Blake's wife was left behind when he fled the country and she later divorced him


Born in the Netherlands in 1922, Blake escaped the country after joining the Dutch resistance as a courier in the Second World War and reached the UK in 1943.

He began working for MI6 in 1944 and was sent to Seoul in South Korea four years later, where he gathered intelligence on North Korea, China and the Soviet Far East.

It was his time in a North Korean prison, after being captured in 1950, that saw him embrace communism. Blake read the works of Karl Marx and developed a sense of outrage at the US bombing of the country.

"That's what made me decide to change sides. I felt it would be better for humanity if the communist system prevailed, that it would put an end to war, to wars," he said.

After his release, he returned to the UK in 1955 and was sent to Berlin by MI6 to collect information on Soviet spies.

However, he was also passing secrets to Moscow on British and US operations.

"I met a Soviet comrade about once a month," he said in a 2012 interview with Russian newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

"I handed over films and we chatted. Sometimes we had a glass of Tsimlyansk champagne (Soviet sparkling wine)."


George Blake (left) at Berlin airport en route to Britain after his release from a North Korean prison


His treachery was eventually exposed by a Polish defector and he was brought home to Britain for trial.

Blake's remarkable escape after just a few years behind bars led to a new life in the Soviet Union - but not before he spent two months in hiding, and was driven across Europe to East Berlin inside a wooden box attached under a car.

He and wife Gillian were divorced after he fled the UK, and he married a Russian woman, Ida, with whom he had a son.

Blake worked at a foreign affairs institute before the couple later retired to a country house outside Moscow. But he maintain his interest in the secret service well into his old age, and gave master classes on espionage.

In the 2012 Russian newspaper interview to mark his 90th birthday, he said he was content and living a "peaceful" life.

"Looking back on my life, everything seems logical and natural," he said.

He said he did not regard himself as a traitor as he never "felt" British, adding: "To betray, you first have to belong. I never belonged."

Comments

Captain 5 year ago
He was allowed to live a full life despite being responsible for the deaths of hundreds , by his own admission around 650 agents. The U.K. never sent anyone after him , unlike Putin who regularly despatches his goons armed with Novichok to see off the opposition and retired Russian double agents.
Outs it into perspective doesn’t it

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Street justice isn’t pretty but how else do you deal with this kind of insanity? Sometimes someone needs to standup and say something
Armenia and Azerbaijan sign U.S.-brokered accord at White House outlining transit link via southern Armenia
Barcelona Resolves Captaincy Issue with Marc-André ter Stegen
US Justice Department Seeks Release of Epstein and Maxwell Grand Jury Exhibits Amid Legal and Victim Challenges
Trump Urges Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan to Resign Over Alleged Chinese Business Ties
Scotland’s First Minister Meets Trump Amid Visit Highlighting Whisky Tariffs, Gaza Crisis and Heritage Links
Trump Administration Increases Reward for Arrest of Venezuelan President Maduro to Fifty Million Dollars
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
OpenAI Launches GPT‑5, Its Most Advanced AI Model Yet
Embarrassment in Britain: Homelessness Minister Evicted Tenants and Forced to Resign
President Trump nominated Stephen Miran, his top economic adviser and a critic of the Federal Reserve, to temporarily fill an open Fed seat
The AI-Powered Education Revolution: Market Potential and Transformative Impact
Chikungunya Virus Outbreak in Southern China: Over 7,000 Hospitalized
French wine makers have seen catastrophic damage to vines that were almost ready to be harvested after the worst fires in more than 70 years burned through the south of the country
US Lawmaker Probes Intel CEO’s China Ties Amid National Security Concerns
Brazilian President Lula says he’ll contact the leaders of BRICS states to propose a unified response to U.S. tariffs
Trump Open to Meeting Putin as Soon as Next Week, with Possible Trilateral Summit Including Zelenskiy
Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau spark dating rumors, joining high stakes world of celeb-politician romances
US envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow to seek a breakthrough in the Ukraine war ahead of President Trump’s peace deadline
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Karol Nawrocki Inaugurated as Poland’s President, Setting Stage for Clash with Tusk Government
Trump Signals JD Vance as ‘Most Likely’ MAGA Successor for 2028
US Charges Two Chinese Nationals for Illegal Nvidia AI Chip Exports
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
U.S. Tariff Policy Triggers Market Volatility Amid Growing Global Trade Tensions
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
Representative Greene Urges H-1B Visa Cuts Amid U.S.-India Trade Tensions
U.S. House Committee Subpoenas Clintons and Senior Officials in Epstein Investigation
Sydney Sweeney Registered as Republican as Controversial American Eagle Ad Sparks Debate
Trump Accuses Major Banks of Politically Motivated Account Denials and Prepares Executive Order
TikTok Removes Huda Kattan Video Over Anti-Israel Conspiracy Claims
Trump Threatens Tariffs on India Over Russian Oil Imports
German Finance Minister Criticizes Trump’s Attacks on Institutions
U.S. Proposes Visa Bond of Up to $15,000 for Some Applicants
U.S. Farmers Increase Lobbying Amid Immigration Crackdown
Elon Musk Receives $23.7 Billion Tesla Stock Award
Texas House Paralyzed After Democrats Walk Out Over Redistricting
Mexican Cartels Complicate Sheinbaum’s U.S. Security Talks
Mark Zuckerberg Declares War on the iPhone
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
Tesla Seeks Shareholder Approval for $29 Billion Compensation Package for Elon Musk
Nvidia is cutting prices on its RTX 50-series graphics cards after sales slowed and inventories piled up
Ghislaine Maxwell Transferred to Minimum-Security Prison Amid Ongoing DOJ Discussions
U.S. Tariffs Surge to Highest Levels in Nearly a Century Under Second Trump Term
×