Mystery remained today after would-be Russian president Mr Ivan Rybkin returned to Moscow from a five-day absence saying he had been on an impromptu break in Ukraine.
His haggard appearance at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport last night, his evasiveness and his strong hints that he had been under some sort of pressure only added to the mystery about his disappearance.
Press commentators said Mr Rybkin, a fierce critic of Mr Vladimir Putin, was bound for political oblivion unless he could show he had been the victim of a "dirty tricks" set-up to discredit him and his financial backer, exiled tycoon Mr Boris Berezovsky.
"It's likely this story will mark the end of his participation in the (March 14) elections," the business daily Kommersant wrote. "That is unless Mr Rybkin can convince his colleagues and voters that he was not acting of his own free will."
Mr Rybkin, a former speaker of parliament, appeared in neighbouring Ukraine to the bafflement of aides and family in Russia who had triggered a police hunt by reporting him missing.
He said he had simply decided to leave the house on the night of February 5th, without telling his wife, and travel to Kiev for a quick break, away from the political pressure.
He said he was with "friends" and had been "stunned" yesterday to learn of the fuss surrounding him back in Moscow.
At the airport Mr Rybkin, a former negotiator with Chechen separatists, seemed pale and dazed and said he was tired. Railing against what he called "arbitrariness" in politics, he said: "I've come back feeling as though I have just completed a round of Chechnya negotiations. I am pleased to be back."
His comments led to speculation that Mr Rybkin had fallen victim to a "dirty tricks" operation that he was too scared to disclose.