London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Jul 21, 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
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Defends Attorney General Pam Bondi Amid Epstein Memo Backlash
Renault Shares Drop as CEO Luca de Meo Announces Departure Amid Reports of Move to Kering
Senior Aides for King Charles and Prince Harry Hold Secret Peace Summit
Anti‑Semitism ‘Normalised’ in Middle‑Class Britain, Says Commission Co‑Chair
King Charles Meets David Beckham at Chelsea Flower Show
If the Department is Really About Justice: Ghislaine Maxwell Should Be Freed Now
NYC Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Antifada’ Remarks Spark National Debate on Political Language and Economic Policy
×