Mr. Rybkin looked very serious and spoke vaguely about “terrible despotism”. He said he felt like he had had “difficult Chechen talks”.

Earlier, in a telephone conversation (presumably from Kiev) with Ksenia Ponomareva, chief of his election team, Mr. Rybkin said he had been in Kiev, where he “walked, rested and enjoyed good weather”. He said he did not understand why there was such hysteria over his absence.

According to the Main Interior Department of Moscow, criminal prosecutors waited for Mr. Rybkin at the Sheremetyevo airport. Reportedly, he was to sign a statement that he was not kidnapped or held captive, and that he was not forced to take any psychotropic or other drugs.

Ivan Rybkin disappeared on Thursday last week. Prosecutors opened a criminal case under Article 105 (Murder). However, the Moscow’s Prosecutor’s Office cancelled this action, saying that there was no reason to initiate criminal proceedings.