Anti-corruption campaigner Bill Browder warns buying Russian stocks is akin to buying ‘German equities during Holocaust’

An anti-corruption campaigner has warned people considering buying de-valued Russian stocks that it is akin to buying “German equities during the Holocaust”.

Bill Browder in a tweet told people today to avoid Russian equities and bonds and to “have some decency”.

London-listed stocks that have exposure to Moscow have collapsed in value since Russian troops rolled into Ukraine.

Evraz, a steelmaker that has operations in Russia and counts Roman Abramovich as a top shareholder, has lost around 90 per cent of its value since the start of the year.

Russian gold miner Polymetal International has fallen by a similar amount.

Both firms were booted out of the FTSE 100 last week as a result of their share prices tumbling.

Moscow’s stock exchange has been shuttered since last Monday due to authorities’ concerns over an immediate collapse in equity prices.

In another tweet, Browder, 57, who heads investment fund Hermitage Capital Management, said each civilian death caused by the Russia-Ukraine war is the result of “a Putin sponsored terrorist incident”.

“This is Russian state sponsored terrorism against innocent Ukrainian civilians. No different than Osama bin Laden,” he added.