British Cold War double agent George Blake dies

MOSCOW: George Blake, a famous "mole" in British intelligence who spied for the Soviet KGB during the 1950s before fleeing across the Iron Curtain, has died aged 98, Russian news agencies reported on Saturday.

"The legendary intelligence officer George Blake has passed away today," the spokesman for Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence service Sergei Ivanov told the Tass state news agency.

"He sincerely loved our country and admired our people’s achievements during World War II," Ivanov added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, himself an ex-KGB agent, on Saturday expressed his "deep condolences" to Blake’s family and friends.