A RUSSIAN TV channel made a huge gaffe by broadcasting an appeal to spy for Britain.

Channel 1 stunned viewers by transmitting an invitation from the MI6 boss for Russians to “join hands with us”.

Presenter Maria Butina — a former Russian spy — included the clip in an hour-long profile of Richard Moore, 60.

The spy chief known as “C” made the appeal in Prague in July.

He claimed Russians appalled by the war in Ukraine were turning to MI6.

And he invited others to follow suit, saying: “Our door is always open.”

But his message was scarcely reported by Kremlin-controlled media — until now.

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It is not clear if station bosses realised what they were doing.

Experts said the state-owned channel — the second most watched in Russia — had effectively helped MI6 reach millions of potential spies.

Russia expert Professor Mark Galeotti said: “Butina’s show is watched by people in politics — exactly the sort of people MI6 would want to target.

“The plug was priceless. In Russia, you simply do not broadcast an invitation to work for a hostile intelligence agency.”

The TV show opened with a lengthy soundbite from Moore’s “come spy with me” speech, translated into Russian.

Butina, 35, was convicted of being a foreign agent and deported from America in 2019 after offering sex for jobs as she tried to infiltrate the powerful NRA gun lobby.

She has since become an MP for Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party and a TV presenter.

Her bizarrely named show, The Dolls of the Heir Tutti — a reference to a Soviet fairytale — profiles Russia’s “enemies”.