On March 4, 2025, Oleg Gordievsky died at the age of 86. He was the highest-ranking KGB officer to spy on the USSR for MI6.

His first mission was in Berlin in 1961, when the Wall was being built. Seeing how the regime was locking in its own people left a deep mark on him.

In 1963, he officially joined the KGB. The Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 encouraged him to reach out to MI6 agents.

In 1974, he became a double agent. For over 10 years, he leaked key information about the Soviet apparatus to MI6.

In 1982, he was assigned to London as the head of Soviet intelligence in the United Kingdom, which gave him access to top-level information.

He played a crucial role in alerting the West to Soviet paranoia about a possible nuclear attack during the Able Archer 83 exercise.

His information helped prevent a military escalation during the drill, which the Soviets mistook for a real NATO attack.

In 1985, he was taken to Moscow as a suspected spy. Fearing for his life, he activated an escape plan previously arranged with MI6.

The escape operation from the USSR, known as Operation Pimlico, achieved a movie-like rescue across the Finnish border.

He was welcomed as a hero by British intelligence services, although his defection triggered a diplomatic crisis with the USSR.

In 2007, Queen Elizabeth II awarded him the Order of St Michael and St George. He is the only non-British spy to be honored in such a solemn way.