Former top Russian spy Oleg Gordievsky rubs shoulders with cricketer Ian Botham, author Salman Rushdie and actor Barry Humphries in the Queen's birthday honours list, published on Saturday.
Gordievsky, a KGB Colonel who became the highest ranking defector in the Cold War when he first started spying for and later escaped to Britain, becomes a Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George.
His citation for the award, usually reserved for top diplomats, is for services to the security of the United Kingdom.
The award comes as relations between Britain and Russia are under strain over the murder in London last year with radioactive Polonium 210 of another former Russian spy, Alexander Litvinenko, who accused Moscow of ordering his death.
2007-06-15
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