Defector says Russia has 20 spies in London

RUSSIA has as many as 20 spies currently working in London, according to former Soviet double agent Mr Oleg Gordievsky, who worked…

RUSSIA has as many as 20 spies currently working in London, according to former Soviet double agent Mr Oleg Gordievsky, who worked for both the KGB and MI6 before defecting to Britain in 1985.

Describing the disparity between the intelligence services in Russia and Britain, he said "The Russians, only four or five years after Communism, still have huge intelligence and security organisations.

"They have probably 20 if not more spies or intelligence officers in London, while the British intelligence station it is just one officer and one secretary," he told Sky News. "The small and cheap security service in Britain has got a tiny surveillance force. In Moscow there is a huge KGB surveillance force of a couple of thousand of watchers."

He said he believed that the former KGB was under huge pressure to prove that it still has a role. This desperation might have prompted the latest claims of spying.