Armed with his masterly knowledge of the Russian language and at considerable personal risk, Lord Bethell visited the Soviet Union on several occasions, where he made friends with many leading dissidents, such as Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Andrei Sakharov, Anatoly Shcharansky and Alexander Ginsburg.
Armé de sa parfaite maîtrise de la langue russe, Lord Bethell a visité, non sans prendre de gros risques, l'Union soviétique en plusieurs occasions, ce qui lui a permis de se lier d'amitié avec un grand nombre de grands dissidents, dont Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Andrei Sakharov, Anatoly Shcharansky et Alexander Ginsburg.