Former KGB double agent Oleg Gordievsky dies in Surrey aged 86

Oleg Gordievsky received the Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and Saint George from Queen Elizabeth II in 2008. Photograph: Martin Keene/PA

Oleg Gordievsky, the UK’s most significant cold war double agent inside the KGB, has died at his home in Surrey aged 86.

Gordievsky, who would eventually defect to Britain from Moscow under threat of exposure, was considered a key agent operating for the UK’s intelligence services working within the Soviet Union.