The Government has been urged to ban Britons from travelling to Russia because of the risk of state-sponsored kidnapping after the biggest prisoner swap with Moscow since the Cold War.
Sir Bill Browder, a financier and anti-Putin activist, had fought for his friend Vladimir Kara-Murza to be released in the historic exchange.
Mr Kara-Murza, a British-Russian Putin critic, politician and journalist, was sentenced to 25 years on politically motivated charges of treason in Russia in 2023.
Sir Bill said that the law should now be changed to make sure no other British nationals fell victim to “regular” hostage-taking of foreigners, which took place with the Kremlin’s blessing.
He told the BBC’s Today programme on Friday: “We restrict it. We say that it’s no longer legal for a British citizen to travel to Russia. That’s the easy way around this.
“Are British citizens regularly going to North Korea? No. Why aren’t they? Because they do that type of stuff. Russia is the same. It’s become a totally dangerous place to go to.”
He added, “Hostage-taking is regular and we should not allow people to go to Russia anymore. It’s just as plain as day.”