(CNN) The former British spy and Soviet secret agent George Blake has died in Moscow aged 98, according to Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti. In intelligence, he was highly respected and appreciated," a spokesperson for Russian foreign intelligence agency SVR said on December 26, according to the agency. He himself jokingly said: 'I am a foreign car that has adapted to Russian roads,'" the statement added. "Now this foreign car has completed its almost century-long run." Blake was a double agent, who used his position as an officer in the UK's Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), also known as MI6, to spy for the Soviet Union.

Source: CNN December 26, 2020 13:18 UTC