Free Republic

Russian presidential hopeful Rybkin says he was drugged and kidnapped. Russia's presidential hopeful Ivan Rybkin, who mysteriously disappeared for five days, said Friday that he was drugged, kidnapped and kept unconscious by captors who had lured him to Ukraine. Rybkin, who said the incident involved a murky attempt involving a video tape to "compromise" him, also announced he would not withdraw from the March 14 Russian elections and told a London press conference he would conduct his campaign from Western Europe. Rybkin said that he had gone to Ukraine on the understanding that he would be meeting Chechen rebel leader...

Russia's Missing Candidate Surfaces Putin Foe Says He Visited Friends By Peter Baker Washington Post Foreign Service Wednesday, February 11, 2004; Page A24 MOSCOW, Feb. 10 -- The fate of Russia's disappearing presidential candidate cleared up Tuesday when he turned up alive and seemingly well in Ukraine. But the mystery of what really happened to him only deepened. Ivan Rybkin, a former parliamentary speaker mounting a long-shot challenge to President Vladimir Putin in the March 14 election, returned to Moscow on an evening flight, saying he had simply gone to see friends in Kiev and was stunned to learn that...

<p>Ever since I announced that I was the democratic opposition candidate in Russia's presidential elections, my friends in the West have asked me why I'm bothering to run when everyone says that Vladimir Putin is certain to be re-elected. Russia and the West, I reply, need a legitimate independent candidate who is not afraid to challenge Mr. Putin.</p>