MI6 chief thanks Russian state television for its ‘help’ in encouraging Russians to spy for the UK

By EMMA BURROWS
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — The head of Britain’s foreign intelligence agency has thanked Russian state television for encouraging Russians to spy for the U.K. after it broadcast part of a speech he gave calling on Russians to join hands with British intelligence. The clip was broadcast in September during a program about MI6 chief Richard Moore. It was anchored by Maria Butina, a former covert Russian agent. Butina says no one would want to become a British spy after watching the show which she said showed the “unpleasant and ugly” side of MI6. But an expert in the Russian security services calls the broadcast “a pretty serious gaffe.”