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First he spied for Britain, then for the Soviet Union; Now, former agent George Blake has died at the age of 98. The Russian foreign intelligence service SWR announced on Saturday in the capital Moscow to the state agency Tass. “He sincerely loved our country.” Blake admired the performance of the Soviet people in World War II, a spokesman said. He was a legendary intelligence officer.
The former agent, born in Rotterdam in 1922, was transferred to South Korea as a young spy for the British secret service after World War II. After the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 he was taken prisoner. Then he spied for the Soviet Union. When this was discovered, a British court sentenced him to 42 years in prison in 1961. In 1966 he managed to escape from prison. He fled to Moscow via Berlin. Since then he has lived in Russia.
For Putin “brilliant professional”
Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin praised Blake as a “brilliant professional with exceptional character and courage.” With his hard work, he made an “invaluable contribution to the preservation of peace in the world.” The agent changed sides during the Cold War and later justified this step with the American bombing. According to the Russian newspaper “Rossiyskaya Gazeta”, the 98-year-old man recently suffered from hypertension and malaise.
Putin, who was also an intelligence agent, had congratulated him on Blake’s 90th birthday. On his 95th birthday, he called in the agents of Russia to fight good against evil. (apa, dpa)
