Oleg Gordievsky, a KGB colonel, acted as a double agent for which intelligence service?

• A. MI6
• B. CIA
• C. Mossad
• D. MSS

Answer: (A)

A double agent secretly feeds information to a rival intelligence service while still operating within their own organization. Oleg Gordievsky, a high-ranking KGB officer, acted as a double agent for MI6, the British Secret Intelligence Service. He began quietly providing MI6 with detailed insights into the Soviet leadership, the KGB’s internal workings, and Moscow’s strategic thinking, all while remaining within the Soviet system. This gave the British a rare, insiders’ view of the USSR during a tense period of the Cold War. In 1985 he was exfiltrated to the United Kingdom with MI6’s help after the KGB uncovered him, and his intelligence significantly influenced Western understanding and policy toward the USSR. The other options represent different services, but Gordievsky’s direct clandestine role was with MI6.