Latest news with #ConstantineDobrowolski
Express Tribune
4 days ago
- Politics
- Express Tribune
UK distances new MI6 chief from Nazi past
The British government has distanced the incoming head of its foreign intelligence service from her grandfather following reports he was a Nazi spy known as "the butcher". Blaise Metreweli will in the autumn become the first woman to lead MI6 in its 116-year-old history, the British government announced earlier this month. The Daily Mail newspaper reported this week that her grandfather Constantine Dobrowolski defected from the Soviet Union's Red Army to become a Nazi informant in the Chernigiv region of modern-day Ukraine. The newspaper said German archives showed Dobrowolski was known as "the Butcher" or "Agent No 30" by Wehrmacht commanders.
Al Arabiya
5 days ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
UK distances new spy chief from ‘Nazi' grandfather
The British government has distanced the incoming head of its foreign intelligence service from her grandfather following reports he was a Nazi spy known as 'the butcher.' Blaise Metreweli will in the autumn become the first woman to lead MI6 in its 116-year-old history, the British government announced earlier this month. The Daily Mail newspaper reported this week that her grandfather Constantine Dobrowolski defected from the Soviet Union's Red Army to become a Nazi informant in the Chernigiv region of modern-day Ukraine. The newspaper said German archives showed Dobrowolski was known as 'the Butcher' or 'Agent No 30' by Wehrmacht commanders. 'Blaise Metreweli neither knew nor met her paternal grandfather,' a Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement. 'Blaise's ancestry is characterized by conflict and division and, as is the case for many with eastern European heritage, only partially understood. 'It is precisely this complex heritage which has contributed to her commitment to prevent conflict and protect the British public from modern threats from today's hostile states, as the next chief of MI6.' The Daily Mail said Dobrowolski had a 50,000 ruble bounty placed on him by Soviet leaders, and was dubbed the 'worst enemy of the Ukrainian people.' He also sent letters to superiors saying he 'personally' took part 'in the extermination of the Jews,' the newspaper added. The head of MI6 is the only publicly named member of the organization and reports directly to the foreign minister. Metreweli, 47, will be the 18th head of MI6. Like her predecessors she will be referred to as 'C', not 'M' as the chief is called in the James Bond film franchise.
Arab News
5 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
UK distances new spy chief from ‘Nazi' grandfather
LONDON: The British government has distanced the incoming head of its foreign intelligence service from her grandfather following reports he was a Nazi spy known as 'the butcher.'Blaise Metreweli will in the autumn become the first woman to lead MI6 in its 116-year-old history, the British government announced earlier this Daily Mail newspaper reported this week that her grandfather Constantine Dobrowolski defected from the Soviet Union's Red Army to become a Nazi informant in the Chernigiv region of modern-day newspaper said German archives showed Dobrowolski was known as 'the Butcher' or 'Agent No 30' by Wehrmacht commanders.'Blaise Metreweli neither knew nor met her paternal grandfather,' a Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement.'Blaise's ancestry is characterised by conflict and division and, as is the case for many with eastern European heritage, only partially understood.'It is precisely this complex heritage which has contributed to her commitment to prevent conflict and protect the British public from modern threats from today's hostile states, as the next chief of MI6.'The Daily Mail said Dobrowolski had a 50,000 ruble bounty placed on him by Soviet leaders, and was dubbed the 'worst enemy of the Ukrainian people.'He also sent letters to superiors saying he 'personally' took part 'in the extermination of the Jews,' the newspaper head of MI6 is the only publicly named member of the organization and reports directly to the foreign 47, will be the 18th head of her predecessors she will be referred to as 'C,' not 'M' as the chief is called in the James Bond film franchise.
Russia Today
5 days ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
UK government comments on incoming MI6 chief's Nazi family links
The UK Foreign Office has defended Blaise Metreweli, the first woman appointed to lead the MI6 foreign intelligence agency, after media reports revealed that her grandfather fought for Nazi Germany. The government argued that Metreweli's controversial family background has only strengthened her resolve to protect the country from external threats. On Thursday, the Daily Mail published a report revealing for the first time that Metreweli, who is set to become MI6 director in October, is the granddaughter of Constantine Dobrowolski – a Red Army defector who joined Hitler's forces and was nicknamed 'The Butcher' for atrocities committed in Nazi-occupied Ukraine. In a statement on Friday, the Foreign Office said: 'Blaise Metreweli neither knew nor met her paternal grandfather. Blaise's ancestry is characterized by conflict and division and, as is the case for many with Eastern European heritage, only partially understood.' 'It is precisely this complex heritage which has contributed to her commitment to prevent conflict and protect the British public from modern threats posed by today's hostile states, as the next chief of MI6,' the statement continued. According to the Daily Mail, Dobrowolski served in an SS tank unit and later joined the Nazi military police, which took part in the mass murder of Jews, partisans, and political prisoners. Dobrowolski is believed to have been killed in 1943. His widow later moved to the UK, where she married Georgian-born David Metreweli.
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Security experts praise the Mail for doing a 'national service' by revealing new MI6 chief's granddad was a Nazi spy chief - before the Russians could
Security experts have praised the Mail for doing a 'national service' by disclosing that the next head of MI6 is the granddaughter of a Nazi spy chief. Our investigation found incoming Secret Intelligence Service boss Blaise Metreweli is descended from notorious Ukrainian traitor Constantine Dobrowolski. Known as 'Agent No 30' by Wehrmacht commanders, he had vowed revenge against the Russians after they slaughtered his family and seized his country following the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. He requested to be sent to the front when Germany invaded the Soviet Union – and immediately switched sides, initially serving with an SS Panzer division in August 1941. Then, as the Soviets moved in to 'liberate' Ukraine in 1943, Dobrowolski got safe passage from the Nazis for his wife Barbara and their two-month-old son, also named Constantine, to flee west towards Germany. While Dobrowolski's fate is unknown, his wife and their son made it to Britain, where she married a new partner, Georgian-born David Metreweli, in Yorkshire in 1947. Perhaps wanting to suppress their dark family history, his son took his stepfather's surname – a name which passed to his daughter, Blaise Metreweli, who from September will head up the very same intelligence service that was fighting against her grandfather in the Second World War. The Mail unearthed hundreds of pages of documents held in Germany detailing the extraordinary – and blood-soaked – life and times of Dobrowolski that are worthy of a spy thriller. Known as 'Agent No 30' by Wehrmacht commanders, Dobrowolski had vowed revenge against the Russians ever since they slaughtered his noble land-owning family They detail how the Soviets put a 50,000-rouble bounty – £200,000 in today's money – on the head of the man they dubbed 'the executioner' and 'a fascist cannibal' . Dobrowolski boasted to German commanders of 'personally' taking part 'in the extermination of the Jews'. Professor Anthony Glees, who specialises in intelligence, said the Kremlin likely knew 'from the moment' Blaise Metreweli was appointed about her family's past. He said: 'It is very important that the Mail told the British nation and that they did not discover it from a Russian source. 'I suspect the moment the Russian intelligence service saw the appointment that they could well have been waiting for their moment to embarrass us. 'What the Mail has done has very much been in our national security interest, and it is to be applauded.' Giorgi Badridze, former Georgian ambassador to the UK, said: 'It was incredibly important that the story was published by the British media before Russian propaganda could run amok.' A Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office spokesman said: 'Blaise Metreweli neither knew nor met her paternal grandfather. 'Blaise's ancestry is characterised by conflict and division and, as is the case for many with eastern European heritage, only partially understood. 'It is precisely this complex heritage which has contributed to her commitment to prevent conflict and protect the British public from modern threats from today's hostile states, as the next chief of MI6.'
