George Blake, the MI6 Spy Who Betrayed Up To 40 British Agents And Defected To Russia, Says He has No Regrets

 

Vladimir Putin, Russia's president former KGB agent, likes to trot out the memories of the Cold War spies like Kim Philby and honor them as heroes.

One such Cold War spy, 90-year George Blake, is still alive and resides in Putin's Russia.

Exiled former master spy and traitor George Blake, whose betrayal of British agents to the KGB is said to have cost any lives, claims the 'happiest years' of his life are being spent in Putin-controlled Russia.

In a rare interview marking his 90th birthday, the former MI6 officer recalled sharing cocktails, including martinis - favored by James Bond - with fellow spies outside Moscow in their KGB retirement.

Nearly five decades after he escaped from a British jail and was smuggled to east Berlin in a camper van in one of the classic cloak-and-dagger stories of the 20th century, Blake lives quietly in the Moscow suburbs with his wife Ida on a pension from the KGB.

'These are the happiest years of my life, and the most peaceful, ' Blake, who goes by the Russian name Georgy Ivanovich, said in the interview, published in the Russian government newspaper Rossiskaya Gazeta.

... There was no sign of regret or remorse for his duplicity and he appeared content with the life he forged after being exposed with fellow traitors Donald Maclean and Kim Philby as among the most 'significant' spies of the Cold War years.

You can also read the Associated Press piece on Blake in the Philadelphia Inquirer via the below link:

http://articles.philly.com/2012-11-07/news/34974566_1_british-prison-soviet-spy-double-agent