MI6 has cast distance between its new chief and her grandfather, who was this week revealed to have been a Nazi spy known as "the butcher".
Blaise Metreweli was announced as the incoming head of the Secret Intelligence Service earlier this month. She will be its first female "C" in its 116-year history.
With little known about her wider backstory, several newspapers reported on Friday that her grandfather was Constantine Dobrowolski, who defected from Soviet Russia's Red Army to become the Nazis' chief informant in Chernihiv, Ukraine.
However, the Foreign Office, which speaks on behalf of MI6, said Ms Metreweli "neither knew nor met her paternal grandfather".
A spokesperson added: "Blaise's ancestry is characterised by conflict and division and, as is the case for many with eastern European heritage, only partially understood.
