One of the most important spies of the Cold War, whose covert passing of secrets to Britain helped change the course of history and avert a nuclear war, has passed away at the age of 86. Oleg Gordievsky, a former Soviet KGB officer, lived in England since defecting in 1985.

Surrey Police confirmed on 4th March that an 86-year-old man was found dead at a house in Godalming. Although counterterrorism officers are leading the investigation, the death is not being treated as suspicious.

Gordievsky was recruited by Britain’s MI6 in the early 1970s after becoming disillusioned with the USSR. He was the most senior Soviet spy to defect during the Cold War and went by the code-name Hetman. For over a decade, his reports provided Britain with invaluable insights into the Soviet leadership and KGB.

In the early 1980s, his warnings that the Soviets feared a potential surprise NATO nuclear attack led US President Ronald Reagan to moderate his anti-USSR rhetoric. His intelligence was crucial in guiding Margaret Thatcher during her early interactions with Mikhail Gorbachev, whose rise to power contributed to the end of the Cold War.

Gordievsky’s life took a dangerous turn in 1985 when suspicions of him being a British spy led to his return to Moscow. He was drugged and interrogated, but with the help of a pre-arranged plan, an MI6 rescue mission was initiated. He was eventually smuggled into Finland and then to England, where he lived under UK protection in Godalming, Surrey.

His family, including his wife and daughters, were under KGB surveillance for six years before joining him in England in 1991. Gordievsky went on to write several books and received recognition from key figures, including Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan.

In 2007, Queen Elizabeth II honoured Gordievsky with the Companion of the Order of Saint Michael and St George (CMG). However, his security continued to be a concern when former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned in Salisbury in 2018.